How to do a simple multisensory subtraction drill

 None of us want our child to struggle with math facts. We hope that skills like subtraction will come easily to them, or plan to drill at home to help give them an advantage in the classroom.

 

If your child doesn’t learn through traditional means, it can be disappointing, and a little scary.  You might scan the app store hoping to find a clever solution, or order some flash cards to drill with. What is really going to help them?

Ultimate Guide to Teaching Multiplication Facts

What’s the best way to help your student learn the multiplication tables? You might be a teacher who is puzzling over those three students who didn’t get it with the rest of the class. Or, you might be a parent who never trained as a teacher and now needs to make sure that your child is taking this critical step in math.

Alex Chambers on Unsplash

Math facts can be boring, but it’s also a little scary if you have one of those children who struggles to memorize what comes so easily to everyone else. When you have a smart student in front of you who is still struggling, it can make you feel inadequate, even if you were successful at multiplication yourself.

Thankfully, there are proven ways that help students make this important math milestone.

Fun Multiplication by 8 Spider craft to go with Charlotte's Web

Math spider craft  for multiplication by 8. Co-ordinates with Charlotte's Web, and is perfect for second or third grade. Common Core aligned.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.A.1 Interpret products of whole numbers,

"Your pet spider bit me!" My sister was really upset. Although I didn't officially keep spiders as pets while we were growing up, I was always friendly with them. I figured that anything that killed insects was a friend, and they really fascinated me. 

Cool Minecraft STEM learning project

Learn some math and engineering while playing your favorite video game. This post is not officially sponsored by Minecraft.

"Mom, thank you!" My son threw his long arms around me.

Interfering in my children's plans for playing their favorite video games doesn't always go this well. Like most tech loving families we have really struggle with how to make technology a positive part of our family's routines.

Beautiful Multiplication Pine Cone Craft

Multiplication practice from a nature art approach. Use pine cones to make math fun.

At 1:00 pm, a young student stares out the window, oblivious to the math lesson: at 4:00 pm, that same student stares at a pine cone she found on the walk home. Her eyes follow every crevice, and as her fingers trace the rough sticky surface, as she breaths it's fresh aroma.

Christmas Ornament Subtraction Craft

These DIY ornaments turn out so pretty that children might like to do them at home for fun or as gifts. However, you could easily use them for subtraction practice. They even satisfy the algebraic component called for in Common Core. Who says you can't have Christmas fun and do math at the same time?

Bead Snowflake Addition and Subtraction Practice

The dishes were piled high, creating a mess that matched the rest of the house, and I needed to eat the lunch I had missed with the rest of the family, but some how I found myself offering to pull out the math craft I'd been promising my daughter.

I explained that we needed to make four snowflakes, and her eyes lit up. "You make two and I'll make two." So we did.

Adding Doubles Christmas Tree Math Puzzle for Kindergarten

As my first fall in the classroom drew to a close, it dawned on me that I wasn't going to make it through my curriculum.  With mandated exit tests looming (as in, fail the test, and you don't graduate), I knew I needed to at least get the planned content in front of my students.  I also knew that they expected to have a party the last day before Christmas break. In a move of desperation, I wrote an entire unit's worth of material into a Christmas theme and taught the whole thing the last day before break.  They moaned and groaned, but most of them decided to play along, and when we reviewed months later they remembered our reindeer games!

New Kindergarten to Second Grade Science Unit about Sound!

I am super excited to announce that my second playful science unit, Hear the Wind, is now available on Teachers Pay Teachers. These units have been really fun to do with my own kids! I base them on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) produced by the National Science Teacher's Association.  All the units use materials  that are easily accessible to the average teacher.  No expensive equipment required!

                               

The main physics principle that I hope teachers and students will grasp from this unit is the connection between physical movement and sound.  Sound waves are classified as physical waves, though that term is not used in the early grades.

Sprinkles Demonstration

 Hear the Wind starts with a fun demonstration experiment that uses sprinkles and standard computer speakers.

This activity ties in with a study of grammar.  My own kids spent most of a Saturday morning playing with the set up.

Pin wheel project

I was nervous about this one.  The standards dictated that students should be able to do this type of project independently, but I wasn't sure.  I should not have worried, my first grader was able to do the modified version without any help and guided his sister as well.

My children used the template to make their pin wheels, but more advanced students could be challenged to follow written directions.

The templates for this project are my current TPT freeby.

Wind Instruments

The major project for this unit requires the students to develop an instrument that can be played by the wind, and write directions for their instrument.

Readers of this blog will not be surprised that we raided our recycle bin for supplies!  

One of my children chose to use metal brads and containers from the recycling bin to make a maraca-like instrument.  He got some excellent practice in revising his design as he discovered that metal cans were too heavy, and that the instrument needed to hot something else in order to sound.

My other child used a glass bottle for her instrument.  Googly eyes are critical, although not part of the prototype.

When they were finished, they recorded directions and used their instruments to signal each other without seeing one another.

This unit also includes a chart to help teachers quickly reference which science, language and math objectives are being covered, printable for the activities, and a PowerPoint that gives a simple explanation of sound and hearing.  Again, the key concept is that sound is a result of physical movement.  This is in contrast to vision which depends on electromagnetic waves.  More important than any particular science fact are the skills of inquiry and engineering that the students build. As a bonus, science fuels interest in language and math.

I have been excited by the positive response from followers and newsletter subscribers who took advantage of the freeby week. Normally, these units sell for $3, but just for this week, Hear the Wind is on sale for $1.50.  Or, you can try just the pinwheel project for free.

Other posts you may like:

Toy Car Physics: Playful Integrated Science Unit for Kindergarten to Second Grade

Multiplication and Exponent Craft for Tweens

  Recently, I was given an invitation to put together some learning projects for a couple of middle school girls.  How fun! They want princess projects, so I suggested doing these stain glass castle windows, done in fractal patterns.  I was so excited when I received these pictures of the work they did!  I thought you would like to see them too.

Egg Carton Skip Counting with Printables

This activity addresses several different skills.   For kindergarten purposes, it most directly addresses the Common Core objective CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4 ,  Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities;connect counting to cardinality.   However, it is also preparation for multiplication, and a fine motor exercise.

The Change Game:Level 1

Our family is currently residing in a hotel.  Every week or so I go to the desk ask for alot of quarters and ones: quarters for the laundry, dollar for the nice lady who cleans for us.  My kids are fascinated by the coins and just love to handle change, so I decided to make a money math game for them.