Chicken Escape

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 …

The concept of area like the concept of perimeter is used constantly in everyday life so students will already have an intuitive understanding of it. We need to use and link that understanding to the math activities in the classroom. Hands on activities and word problems that connect to real-life …

Multi-digit multiplication is considered one of the most “challenging” concepts to teach students. The reason for this view is, in my opinion, the fact that understanding multi-digit multiplication requires students to have gained a deep understanding of place value, and the multiplication properties. As the digits increase the process of …

Base ten blocks, bead strings, 100 grids, place value discs, and more manipulatives provide hands-on ways to learn place value, number concepts, operations, measurement, and much more. Students use these manipulatives to physically represent numbers so they can develop a deeper understanding. Building number combinations with manipulatives help students understand …

Multiplication facts fluency is very important as it is the base for many concepts like multi-digit multiplication, equivalent fractions, division, and, much more. Multiplication facts practice deserves time and effort. Rushing into drills that promote meaningless memorization with endless repetition will not help in the long run. Allow students to …

Grades 1-3 Using 100 grids to solve addition and subtraction problems is a great way for students to understand place value and regrouping. Placing/coloring tens and ones on a 100 (or more) grid helps them represent the first number and then add or subtract the second. They can see how …

Both educators and parents agree that fractions and their operations are one of the most difficult concepts for students to grasp. What makes fractions so challenging for students? The introduction of the concept of fractions comes with a new vocabulary, new rules, new symbols, and a new concept of values between zero …

Activities on the 100 chart are a great way to build fluency with numbers in grades 1 and 2 and 3. Students can find patterns and relations, understand one more, one less, count by 2,3, and so on. Start with a 20 or 50 chart and gradually move on to …

Many interesting and fun activities can be done on the multiplication table for the students to discover patterns, find relations and make connections. This will help them gain fluency and automaticity with the multiplication and division facts. Filling in the missing numbers on the multiplication table is one of my …

As we all know multiplication facts fluency is very important as it is the base for many concepts like multi-digit multiplication, equivalent fractions, division, and, much more. Therefore, multiplication facts practice deserves time and effort. Rushing into drills that promote meaningless memorization with endless repetition will not help in the …

Grades K,1,2 Decomposing numbers 11-20 with Ten Frames and Base 10 Blocks helps students deepen their understanding and find relations and strategies that improve their mental math skills. We have created some printable and digital cards to practice decomposing numbers 11-20. Here are some samples. Printable Task-Cards Digital (google slides) …

Here are some fun ways to practice the polygons’ properties. Polygon Party Polygon Party is a fun card game that students can play to practice the polygons’ properties. It gives teachers and parents an opportunity for having discussions, clearing misconceptions, and doing an informal assessment on polygons. Basic and challenge …