By: Mary Kienstra on: October 28, 2017 in: #tlap, Engagement, estimation, Math
Teaching math on Halloween requires even more creativity than other days. Holding kids’ attention when they are only thinking about dressing up and trick or treating takes a special kind of magic. So what’s a teacher to do? Halloween estimation with pumpkins! Here’s the plan: Go to your local grocery store or anywhere that sells […] Read more
By: Mary Kienstra on: June 12, 2017 in: #tlap, algebra, emoji, Engagement
Algebra is fun and engaging when emojis represent the unknowns. Solving these equations seems like working a puzzle, not an Algebra problem. Kids love visual Algebra – emoji style. It doesn’t even seem like work. According to Jo Boaler, Visual mathematics is an important part of mathematics for its own sake and new brain research […] Read more
By: Mary Kienstra on: April 14, 2017 in: #tlap, Engagement, reading
Every teacher in every school is looking for ways to generate reading excitement. How do we get kids more excited to read? How do we motivate them? How do we make reading fun for everyone? This year was our first One Book One School. It was a huge success. We started with the idea that […] Read more
By: Mary Kienstra on: April 2, 2017 in: #tlap, creating, Engagement, reading
Filling out a bracket for March Madness is always exciting. Which team will be this year’s “Cinderella?” How will my favorite team do? Which team will win it all? A few years ago I decided to capitalize on this excitement. In my classroom, it’s Book Madness 2017: Reading in the Brackets! If the brackets […] Read more
By: Mary Kienstra on: February 4, 2017 in: #tlap, Engagement
There are times when students need to work together on a project for an extended period of time. Sometimes those partnerships are just awkward. You know how kids are – they are not always that excited about working with certain kids. I think I found a way to make this situation a bit easier. Make […] Read more
By: Mary Kienstra on: December 30, 2016 in: #tlap, student engagement, teamwork, thinking
It is all that. Breakout is the best new gimmick in student engagement. Give a group a series of locks and puzzles and watch them go to work problem solving as a team. My class of 4th and 5th graders recently read The BFG as part of the Global Read Aloud 2016. (See my post about […] Read more
By: Mary Kienstra on: December 14, 2016 in: #tlap, Engagement, math discussion
The first few minutes of class are the most important for learning. This is the time to hook your students and get them in the MATH frame of mind. 24 Cards are the just the thing to draw them in. Students’ math talk with 24 cards shows their understanding and gives them the opportunity to […] Read more
By: Mary Kienstra on: December 3, 2016 in: #tlap, Engagement, reading
I have to thank Pernille Ripp and the Global Read Aloud crew for the inspiration! One of the picks for this year was The BFG, one of our curricular novels. That was a perfect fit! Find out more about The Global Read Aloud here. It’s fabulous! My students and I embarked on our read aloud […] Read more
By: Mary Kienstra on: October 4, 2016 in: #tlap, Engagement, kindness
Two novels have changed everything in my class this year. We started the year reading Because of Mr. Terupt (by Rob Buyea) and Fish in a Tree (by Lynda Hunt Mulally) as a way to answer the question, “What does the way you treat people tell others about you?” My students analyzed these texts and came up […] Read more
By: Mary Kienstra on: October 4, 2016 in: #tlap, Engagement, order of operations
Any time a lesson can involve movement, it is more memorable than a passive listening experience. So when I saw an example of hopscotch with the order of operations, I created it in my classroom immediately. I knew my students would love to hop for the order of operations. The biggest misconception with the order […] Read more
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