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AWESOME MATH RESOURCES

Are You Using This Genius Strategy for Math Writing?

December 12, 2022

Writing about math helps kids to organize their thinking, use key vocabulary, and communicate mathematically—which leads to deep and meaningful understanding.

Over the past few years, math teachers are incorporating more writing activities into their lesson plans—a trend that is being driven by the use of highly engaging think-notice-wonder writing prompts that spark deep mathematical discussion and are highly effective as warm-up or cool-down activities.

This strategy has recently been endorsed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics:

By asking What do you notice? What do you wonder? we give students opportunities to see problems in big-picture ways, and discover multiple strategies for tackling a problem. Self-confidence, reflective skills, and engagement soar, and students discover that the goal is not to be "over and done," but to realize the many different ways to approach problems.

How does it work?

Math teachers often struggle to find topics for their kids to write about. Sometimes the best way to encourage creativity and exploration is simply posting an image and asking students to describe what they think, notice, and wonder about what they are seeing.

The best way to use think-notice-wonder activities is to choose an image every day and project it as large as you can at the front of your classroom.

Then, have students write 3 sentences about the image starting with:

• I think…

• I notice…

• I wonder…

✔ You may want to have students share their entries in a daily math journal. This practice will get them used to writing about mathematics regularly.

✔ Try not to give too many prompts. You’ll be surprised by how creative and detailed student responses will become over time!

✔ Try to choose images that work with the day’s topic/theme

What would think-notice-wonder look like in YOUR classroom?

Imagine an unusual day where your kids enter class expecting a normal warm-up practice problem but are caught by surprise.

They see the above image of a drone delivering a package displayed on the board along with a writing prompt that calls for them to complete the statements I think..., I notice..., and I wonder...

What kind of creative thoughts and ideas would they have?

How much weight can the drone carry? How many packages can it hold at once?

How would thinking about this image activate their prior knowledge and spark their curiosity?

What are the dimensions of the largest and smallest box it can hold? Does it have to be square?

What kind of anticipation would it build for an upcoming lesson or activity?

Does the drone use GPS coordinates to get from point to point?

Why Think-Notice-Wonder?

Engaging in think-notice-wonder writing activities at the start of a math class is a great way to ignite student thinking, spark creativity, and build anticipation.

Even if students are not directly engaged in mathematical problem-solving, their curiosity and interest will carry on throughout the day’s lesson.

Be mindful that your kids will need some time to get used to these kinds of activities, but after a week or so, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the spike in engagement, boost in student enthusiasm and high quality of responses!

Are you ready to try it with your kids?

Here are a few more sample graphics for you to try in your classroom:

Want more? Download 101 Daily Think-Notice-Wonder Writing Prompts for Engaging Your Kids

You can now share 101 Daily Think-Notice-Wonder Writing Prompts with your kids with our PDF workbook!

Get Yours Now

Do you have experience using think-notice-wonder activities with your math students? Share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section below!

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By Anthony Persico

Anthony is the content crafter and head educator for YouTube's MashUp Math and an advisor to Amazon Education's 'With Math I Can' Campaign. You can often find me happily developing animated math lessons to share on my YouTube channel . Or spending way too much time at the gym or playing on my phone.

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Halloween Math: 13 Days of Spooky Math Challenges for Grades 1-8

October 3, 2022

Halloween Math Activities for Grades 1-8

Add these super fun (and extra spooky) math puzzles to your collection of Halloween Math Activities for elementary and middel school students. Enjoy!

Are you prepared to keep your students focused on learning math during the excitement of the Halloween season?

Sometimes it takes more than an extra shot of espresso in your pumpkin spice latte to get the job done and savvy math teachers know how to channel their student's excitement into holiday-themed activities.

And since preparing activities can be time-consuming (and you're already so busy this school year as it is), my gift to you this Halloween season is 13 Days of Spooky Math Challenges!

The following printable Halloween Math Worksheets allow you to inject a little bit of spooky mathematics into your lessons this month.

Each puzzle is a sample from our best-selling workbook 101 Daily Math Challenges for Engaging Students in Grades 3-8, which is available as a PDF download and as a hard copy on Amazon.

Each Halloween Math Worksheet shares a challenge question (answers are included) appropriate for all elementary and middle school grade levels - they are perfect for warm-ups, exit tickets, and homework and extra credit assignments.

Parents can also share these fun challenge questions with your kids to keep them engaged and thinking mathematically this fall.

Now let's get problem-solving!

Download Instructions: You can download any of the challenges by right-clicking the image and saving it to your computer or by dragging-and-dropping each image to your desktop.

1.) Day 1 of 13

(Hint: Notice that it takes two black cats to make one pumpkin!)

Black Cat = 6

Cauldron = 14

Pumpkin = 12

? = 8

2.) Day 2 of 13

(Hint: Start with the bucket!)

Candy = 9

Zombie = 1

Bucket = 7

Cat = 5

? = 35

Share this puzzles with your students on Halloween day! (Source: Mashup Math ST)

3.) Day 3 of 13

(Hint: Notice that the pumpkin and the witch's hat have the same value!)

Ghost = 8

Bat = 1

Pumpkin = 4

Witch's Hat = 4

? = 31

4.) Day 4 of 13

(Hint: Start with the haunted house and don't forget order of operations)

Spider Web = 10

Witch = 5

Moon = 7

Haunted House = 8

? = 30

“I always look forward to getting my Mashup Math newsletter email every week. I love the free activities!” -Christina R., 5th Grade Math Teacher, Dallas, TX

Do YOU want free math resources, lesson activities, and puzzles and games for grades 1-8 in your inbox every week? Join our mailing list and start getting tons of free stuff (including a free PDF eBOOK)!

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5.) Day 5 of 13

(Hint: Start with the ghost first!)

Ghost = 13

Scarecrow = 4

Tree = 7

? = 16

6.) Day 6 of 13

(Hint: I know it's scary, but start with the zombie hand!)

Werewolf = 5

Witch's Hat = 2

Zombie Hand = 8

Owl = 6

? = 21

7.) Day 7 of 13

(Hint: To find the haunted house, think about what value that when subtracted from 12 equals that same value!)

Ghost = 25

Broom = 15

Haunted House = 6

? = 16

Are you looking for more daily math challenges and puzzles to share with your kids?

My best-selling workbook 101 Math Challenges for Engaging Your Students in Grades 3-8 is now available as a PDF download!

GET YOUR PDF DOWNLOAD

8.) Day 8 of 13

(Hint: All candy bags are created equal!)

Candy Bag = 9

Bats = 10

Boo! = 9

Witch = 1

? = 20

9.) Day 9 of 13

(Hint: Each value comes from doing something to the previous value)

Case #1: ? = 35 (each value increases by one more than its difference with the previous value: +4, +5, +6, ...)

Case #2: ? = 95 (each value increases by twice its difference with the previous value: +6, +12, +24, ...)

Case #3: ? = 121 (each value increases by the square of the difference with the previous value: +3,+9,+27,...)

10.) 10 of 13

(Hint: The growth pattern is exponential!)

1,3,6,10,...

Notice that the first value increases by 2, the second value increases by 3, the third value increases by 4, etc.

Case 5: 15 Zombies

Case 8: 36 Zombies

What about case 100?

11.) Day 11 of 13

(Hint: Remember the multiplicative identity!)

Vampire Lips: 0

Moon = 1

Pumpkin = 2

Frankenstein: 0

Black Cat = 4

Zombie Hand = 5

12.) Day 12 of 13

(Hint: You need to visualize this situation by drawing a diagram and/or using manipulatives and colored pencils or markers!)

Case 4: 25 Faces

Case 5: 36 Faces

Case n: (n+1)^2

*This question was inspired by Jo Boaler's TED Talk: How You Can Be Good at Math and Other Surprising Facts About Learning.

13.) Day 13 of 13

(Hint: Think about what kinds of values have a product ending in 5.)

25 x 13 = 325

Bat = 20

Pumpkin = 5

Witch = 10

Leaf = 50

Ghost = 60

Save the tricks and the treats (except for the bite-sized Twix bars - those I'll take), I just want your input. Please (oh please, oh please) share your thoughts in the comments below!

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