A Recipe for Fractions
If you cook, you use fractions. So why not use cooking to teach fractions? During the holidays my favorite recipes feed a small army, and when I'm cutting them in half, it always reminds me…
Half a Blog
Diversity, Comic Books & Math
Thanks to the Google search image that reminded me that this is not just another day off, I was inspired to read about diversity and comic books to celebrate Dr. King's birthday. So with a…
Teacher Gifts for Fraction Lovers!
As I was doing my holiday shopping, I couldn't help but be a little self-indulgent and look around for cool books and classroom tools for teaching fractions. As a former teacher, I would often wish…
Multiplication: Lost in Translation?
A recent task I developed utilized visual models of multiplication involving a unit fraction. Can you match the models with the expressions ⅓ x 12, ⅓ of 12 or 12 x ⅓? Who would have…
Superpowers for Math Lessons: Writing
Researchers in mathematics education have long hypothesized that requiring students to write about mathematics is extremely powerful. Writing-to-learn can add to a student’s understanding, deepen their ability to justify their answers, and improve metacognition. But…
Keep, Change, Flip: Are Algorithms our Frenemies?
In the new era of the Core Curriculum and reformed mathematics teaching, the big goals are to have our children understand mathematics deeply and solve problems creatively, rather than just memorize a bunch of meaningless…
Why is Fraction Arithmetic So Hard AND Important!
I recently stumbled upon the work of Robert Siegler, a professor of cognitive psychology at Carnegie Mellon University who is working with several colleagues to determine why fraction arithmetic is so difficult. Of course, all…
A Fraction-Algebra Sandwich
Peck and Matassa (2016) recently published a research paper that reinforced why fraction division and multiplication is such an important topic for children to master. We often hear that understanding fractions is a gateway to…
Teaching Fractions with Newton’s Nemesis
Today, I uploaded a new video on YouTube that condenses all the research behind my math mystery comic book series, Newton's Nemesis. It's fast paced and 7-minutes long. Every time I need to learn something…
Math & The Characters: Theo’s Sister Leah
One of the most common reasons children struggle when learning fraction division is because they haven’t fully developed their understanding of division with whole numbers. Children need to understand different interpretations of division and have…