Uncategorized Archives - Mary Kienstra

Eight Great Ways to Learn the Coordinate Plane

By: Mary Kienstra on: April 18, 2017  in: coordinate grid, dance, Engagement, Uncategorized

When kids live the coordinate plane they actually remember it.  Try these eight great ways to get kids to understand and remember the coordinate plane. 1. LIVE IT: Arrange the classroom on the coordinate grid.  Attach tape to the floor and arrange the desks with “addresses” that represent the plane.  As students come in, they pick […] Read more


PI Day 2016

By: Mary Kienstra on: March 18, 2016  in: Engagement, pi day, pi day party, Uncategorized

The PI Day Party is a tradition in my class.  Kids look forward to it all year long.  I can only hope that my students enjoy it as much as I do!  The excitement began to build a week in advance as the kids were assigned a pi day project.  It’s JFF – just for fun – […] Read more


Giant Proportions

By: Mary Kienstra on: January 8, 2015  in: Discussion, Engagement, Math, Uncategorized, ,

A giant stopped by my class and left several of his giant pencils.  As my students observed those pencils, we brainstormed a list of things we could figure out about the giant by knowing the size of his pencil.  They knew that they could use ratios and proportions to estimate the height of the giant, the […] Read more