Looking To Spice Up Your Math Lessons....

We are always looking for ways to get students thinking about numbers and equations in higher order thinking ways! Look no further than Marcy Cooks Website. Marcy Cook is a math specialist who does presentations all over the world on building students thinking on math concepts. On her website she has examples of activities, and books filled with math activities for students at any grade level.

Here is an excerpt from Rafe Esquith's book Teach Like Your Hair Is On Fire. He uses Marcy Cook's math ideas everday in his classroom.

"Many teachers admire the fact that is Room 56 we flow from subject to subject without wasted time. We always begin our math lessons with a mental exercise, and the transition to math from another subject is made infinitely smoother by using one of the great products that Marcy features on her Website: "number tiles." Each number tile is a one-by-one-inch soft tile on which a digit from 1 to 9 is printed. A complete set of tiles from 0 to 9 costs a dollar. I long ago spent $35 to buy complete sets for all my students, who keep the tiles in Ziplock bags in their desks.
As our grammar lesson winds down, I ask the students to put away their work and, in the same sentence begin announcing a mental math problem. This captures the students attention. While they listen to a problem, they quietly put away their grammar work and bring out their number tiles. The tiles are placed on their desks. The beauty of these mental warm-ups is that all the kids participate. When the problem is finished, they all hold up the tile they believe to be right. Since they are not called upon, no one is put in the spotlight and the fear of embarrassment disappears. By having all the kids hold up thier answers I can see immediately who understands the concepts and who needs help. This game can be played by Kindergarteners learning to count and trigonometry students searching for cosines.
Rafe: Okay, kids, everyone think of the number 7 (They do.)
Multiply by 4. (The kids silently are thinking of 28.)
Double that number 56).
Subtract 50 (6).
Show me your answers.

Immediately the students hold up thier tile with the 6."

Marcy Cook's website has many ideas like this to get your students excited about math.

Also, if you are looking for a good book to remind you why you decided to become a teacher, and to reinvigorate your passion, check out Rafe Esquith's Teach Like Your Hair Is On Fire.