Math Things Blog

Coordinate Grids Outside!

“Can we do an outdoor project?” a student asked one beautiful September afternoon. Here is the result.

The school has an asphalt basketball court that isn’t used very much. The following week, we went outside and measured out a one-foot grid on the court.… Read more

3D Tic Tac Toe

Now for sale on Etsy

In 2017 I wrote a post about a 3-Dimensional Tic-Tac-Toe board I had made, and summarized how I had built it. This is a great activity for developing spatial awareness in children. I recently opened a Math Things store on Etsy and began making these for sale.

The Os are wood spheres, flattened so they don't roll. The Xs are simple children's jacks. There are two different boards: a 3 by 3 by 3, and a 4 by 4 by 4 . . . Read more

Magic Squares for Students

If you like to experiment with Magic Squares, or if you use them in classes, here is an accessible way to create them. This doesn't depend on a single placement strategy or a complex formula, but on patterns that are visible in any magic square.

Using a few steps and a manageable amount of trial and error, students (or you) can create 3-by-3 and 4-by-4 magic squares… Read more

Crosswords and Coordinates

I've been doing volunteer work with students from kindergarten to high school. Here are a couple of practice activities I've used.

The first is a series of crossword puzzles in which the letters are determined by multiplication, addition, and subtraction expressions. The letter keys are identical for all the puzzles. The word bank consists of states, countries, and major cities, These are intended for Grades 3-6.

The second is practice finding points on a coordinate grid. When the points are correctly connected, they form the outline of a state (or pair of states). These are good for Grades 5-6.... Read more

Tiling and Partitioning (Fraction) Cards

These cards allow Kindergarteners to tile anything from a 6-inch square to a 6-foot table. Later, as 2nd or 3rd Graders, they can use the same cards to create, identify, and compose fractions, and find equal fractions.

I've used these cards in conjunction with paper folding to introduce fractions for almost 30 years. Now I bring them into enthusiastic K and Grade 1 students' classrooms to use as puzzle pieces. Two or more teachers, one at K-1 and one at 2-3, can share a single kit and get a lot of use out of it.....Read more

A Math Bulletin Board that actually gets read…

In an earlier post (1½ years earlier, to be exact) I'd written about my interactive Math bulletin board that actually gets read and used. I've since upgraded and expanded it. It's open year-round now, with a lot more questions and response from my students....Read more

Write Word Problems about your Students!

"Hey! This has your name in it!" "There's my name!" "Mr. Murray, did YOU write these?!" All of a sudden they're interested in word problems. You can insert your students' names into word problems ...... Read more