Math Wise! Over 100 Hands-On Activities that Promote Real Math Understanding, Grades K-8

by Overholt, James L.; Kincheloe, Laurie

• ISBN13: 9780470471999
• ISBN10: 0470471999
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-03-08
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

A fun, easy-to-implement collection of activities that give elementary and middle-school students a real understanding of key math conceptsMath is a difficult and abstract subject for many students, yet teachers need to make sure their students comprehend basic math concepts. This engaging activity book is a resource teachers can use to give students concrete understanding of the math behind the questions on most standardized tests, and includes information that will give students a firm grounding to work with more advanced math concepts. Contains over 100 activities that address topics like number sense, geometry, computation, problem solving, and logical thinking. Includes projects and activities that are correlated to National Math Education Standards Activities are presented in order of difficulty and address different learning stylesMath Wise! is a key resource for teachers who want to teach their students the fundamentals that drive math problems.

Author Biography

Jim Overholt, Ed.D., Professor of Education at California State University, Chico, has over 30 years of teaching experience. He is the coauthor of Math Stories for Problem Solving Success, Second Edition from Jossey-Bass.

Laurie Kincheloe, M.A., taught high school mathematics for 12 years and currently teaches mathematics at Butte College in Northern California. She has worked with K–12 students, parents, and teachers as a family math coordinator and as a mentor teacher.

Table of Contents

About This Resource.
About the Authors.
Suggestions for Using Math Wise!

I. Making Sense of Numbers.

1. Toothpick Storybooks.
2. Number Combination Noisy Boxes.
3. Everyday Things Numberbooks.
4. Under the Bowl.
5. Cheerios™ and Fruit Loops™ Place Value.
6. Beans and Beansticks.
7. Incredible Expressions.
8. Number Cutouts.
9. Celebrate 100 Days.
10. Paper Plate Fractions.
11. Bean Cups to 1,000.
12. Dot Paper Fractions.
13. Fraction Cover-Up or Un-Cover.
14. Post-it™ Mental Math.
15. Calendar Math.
16. Let’s Have Order.
17. Reject a Digit.
18. A Million or More.
19. Smallest and Largest.
20. Numbers to Words to Numbers.
21. Target a Number. 
22. Fraction Codes.
23. Comparing Fractions, Decimals, and Percents.
24. Number Clues.
25. Number Power Walks.

II. Computation Connections

26. Paper Clip Addition Cards.
27. Arm-Lock Computation.
28. Punchy Math.
29. Multiplication Fact Fold-Outs.
30. Ziploc™ Division.
31. Dot Paper Diagrams.
32. File Folder Activities.
33. Beat the Calculator.
34. Floor Number Line Actions.
35. Egg Carton Math.
36. Cross-Line Multiplication.
37. Highlighting Multiplication.
38. Chalkboard or Tabletop Spinner Games.
39. Skunk.
40. Subtraction Squares.
41. Drawing Fraction Common Denominators.
42. Fraction × and ÷ Diagrams.
43. Decimal Squares.
44. Square Scores.
45. Math Concentration.
46. Scramble.
47. Palindromic Addition.
48. Paper Clip Division.
49. I Have , Who Has?

50. Number Grids.
51. Here I Am.
52. Equation Match-Up.
53. Block Four.
54. Silent Math.
55. Rapid Checking.

III. Investigations and Problem Solving.

56. Shoe Graphs.
57. Sticky Gooey Cereal Probability.
58. Sugar Cube Buildings.
59. A Chocolate Chip Hunt.
60. Flexagon Creations.
61. Watermelon Math.
62. Restaurant Menu Math.
63. Peek Box Probability.
64. A Problem-Solving Plan.
65. Fraction Quilt Designs.
66. What I Do in a Day.
67. Shaping Up.
68. Verbal Problems.
69. Scheduling.
70. Student-Devised Word Problems.
71. Tired Hands.
72. Paper Airplane Mathematics.
73. A Dog Pen Problem.
74. Building the Largest Container.
75. The Three M’s (Mean, Median, and Mode).
76. Post-it Statistics.
77. A Postal Problem.
78. Build the ‘‘Best’’ Doghouse.
79. Dog Races.
80. Four-Coin Statistics.
81. Tube Taping.
82. Height with a Hypsometer.
83. Fairness at the County Fair.
84. Winning a Prize Spelling ‘‘NUT’’.
85. Building Toothpick Bridges.
86. A Bridge with a Bulge.

IV. Logical Thinking.

87. Stacking Oranges.
88. Tell Everything You Can.
89. Handshake Logic.
90. 2- and 3-D Arrangements.
91. Overhead Tic-Tac-Toe.
92. Magic Triangle Logic.
93. Paper Clip Spinners.
94. Triangle Toothpick Logic.
95. Rectangle Toothpick Logic.
96. What Graph Is This?
97. Fold-and-Punch Patterns.
98. Coordinate Clues.
99. Puzzlers with Paper.
100. Create a Tessellation.
101. Problem Puzzlers.
102. Dartboard Logic.
103. Angelica’s Bean Logic.
104. Line It Out.
105. Duplicate Digit Logic.
106. String Triangle Geometry.
107. A Potpourri of Logical-Thinking Problems, Puzzles, and Activities.
Plan a Circuit Board.
22 Wheels and 7 Kids.
Candy Box Logic.
Brownie Cutting.
Making Sums with 0–9.
Upside-Down Displays.
Coin Walk.
Dice Plotting.
Coin Divide.
Animal Pens.
12 Days of Christmas.
Rubber Sheet Geometry.
How Long Is a Groove?
Solutions to Selected Potpourri Activities.

Selected Bibliography 427
Index.