Math Curious Blog
Discover articles, tutorials, and explorations of mathematical concepts for curious minds.
Adding and Subtracting Integers You Can See: Zero Pairs and a Hot Air Balloon
Why is 2 − (−3) bigger than 2? Balloons are +1, weights are −1, and taking away a weight makes the balloon rise. The big idea, zero pairs, a free number talk for grades 6 and 7, and Integer Heights, a self-checking digital game.
Adding and Subtracting Decimals with Base-Ten Blocks: Add & Subtract Decimals
Add & Subtract Decimals is a no-prep digital tool for grades 4 to 6: students loop 10 tenths to SNAP them into a whole, or break a whole with a hammer, so regrouping with decimals makes sense. Tenths, hundredths, thousandths and mixed.
Solving Building Writing Equations with a Balance Scale: Algebra Balance
Algebra Balance is a no-prep digital tool for solving equations: mystery bags and 1 tiles sit on a balance scale, and students take away, divide or multiply both sides until one bag is alone, from x + 4 = 9 to x on both sides and story problems.
Mental Math Strategies for Division: self-checking, instant feedback
Halving, doubling, dividing in steps, multiples of 10 and partial quotients explained with dot arrays and base-ten pictures, a free number talk for grades 4 to 6, and a self-checking digital version of the slide deck.
Math Talk Slides That Check Themselves: 124 Self-Checking Math Talks for Grades 3-5
Our Math Talks slide deck, all 124 slides, now self-checking: open-ended slides that accept every correct answer, hints that point back to the picture, and step-by-step solutions for every puzzle. Grades 3 to 5.
Math Talks : Why Open-Ended Questions Matter, and 150 That Check Themselves
Why math talks build reasoning and number sense, why open-ended questions with more than one right answer matter most, and a self-checking set of 150 math talk cards in 15 styles
Decimal Place Value with Base-Ten Blocks and Number Lines: Build a Decimal
Build a Decimal is a no-prep digital tool for decimal place value: students build tenths, hundredths and thousandths with base-ten blocks, with wholes and parts kept apart, and see each number in words, as a fraction, in expanded form and on a number line.
Mental Math Strategies for Multiplication: 107 Self-Checking Problems, Instant feedback
Multiplying by 9, 11 and 5, doubling, factors of 100 and 1000, rounding, and halving and doubling explained with base-ten blocks, a free number talk for grades 3 to 5, and a self-checking digital version of the slide deck.
Mental Math Strategies for Addition and Subtraction: 117 Self-Checking Problems
Compensating, decomposing, balancing and clustering explained with base-ten blocks, a free number talk for grades 2 to 5, and a self-checking digital version of the slide deck.