Math Curious Blog
Discover articles, tutorials, and explorations of mathematical concepts for curious minds.
Mental Math Strategies – Addition and Subtraction
Using Mental Math strategies means solving a math problem mentally using a conceptual understanding of the numbers. We teach mental math strategies like making 10, splitting, and regrouping in grades 1 and 2, however, I think it is important to teach strategies to older students as well. I noticed that …
Solving Linear Equations Practice Games
As an extension to our linear equations unit, I have designed a few games to encourage students to do some extra practice. The games are great for practice, review, and self-correction, however, they don’t teach how to solve linear equations. Make sure that your students understand linear equations and the …
Halloween Puzzles and Math Talks
Halloween is a great time for some playful, fun math activities like games, puzzles, and more. Puzzles are a great way to add some excitement to math class and when you can turn them into math talks a lot of interesting discussions happen as the students make connections, see the …
Math talks, Number talks, meaningful math discussions
Math talks are short activities (around 10-15 minutes) designed to provide opportunities for the students to make connections in mathematics and explain their thinking to their peers. There are questions/problems/pictures that encourage students to think of different strategies and realize that there is no one way to solve a problem. …
Coordinate plane Games
A coordinate plane is a two-dimensional plane formed by the intersection of two number lines. One of these number lines is a horizontal number line called the x-axis and the other number line is a vertical number line called the y-axis. A coordinate plane is a tool used for graphing …
Comparing Fractions Game-Multiplayer
A game for comparing fractions was missing from our collection so here it is. This is a simple racing game that requires students to compare fractions and recognize equivalent ones. The students can use the fraction bars to compare the fractions (included) or other strategies such as Comparing both to …
Are you smarter than a chicken?
At mathcurious we love math puzzles and brain teasers. Anything that tickles the brain and improves mathematical thinking. Puzzles provoke creativity and show the students how different math concepts and combinations of them can be used to solve problems in unexpected ways. Are your students smarter than a chicken? Have them …
Algebra-Simplifying Expressions, Solving Linear Equations and Inequalities
I love teaching algebra especially in grades 5 and 6 when students start to learn about variables, expressions, and equations. Although algebra might seem strange to them at first, as they start to understand the rules they begin to enjoy this new chapter in their math adventures. I cannot stress …
Equations and Inequalities – Balance the scales
Combining letters with numbers and mathematical operations is new and exciting for students starting with basic operations. I find that many students see these equations as puzzles and love to solve them. As the equations get more complicated, however, including fractions, exponents, and more, many students start getting frustrated. Algebra …