Math Archives - Mrs. Russell's Room

Teaching Area in Third Grade

Tamara — Sat, 22 Jan 2022 14:49:00 +0000

This week, my students and I are exploring area in our whole group math instruction! Area is a ton of fun to teach! This year, I tried something new! I introduced the basics of area and perimeter at the same time. Now, in previous years, I have not taught these two skills together. Mostly because...

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Multiples of Ten for Thirds

Tamara — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 13:05:00 +0000

Happy January to you all! Teaching multiples of ten is one of my favorite units! We do lots of base ten work for students who need that hands on piece, but then we use different break apart strategies to multiply later on. This activity is one that I have used for years to check if...

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Line Plots for Third Graders

Tamara — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 02:33:34 +0000

Introducing line plots to third graders can be fun for the teacher and a bit overwhelming for a child. I mean…think about all the different skills that go into the understanding of how line plots work as a strategy to collect data. Kids have to measure to the nearest quarter inch accurately. They have to...

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Introducing Fractions in Third

Tamara — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 04:39:47 +0000

One of the toughest concepts to teach in third grade is fractional parts. Although students are exposed to fractions for the first time in first grade, and they are fairly aware of the concept of equal shares, the concept can still be very difficult for students to talk about and then demonstrate mastery of. Although...

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Developing a Mathematician’s Identity in Learners

Tamara — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 01:39:03 +0000

Social media has connected me to the most innovative educators over the years and I will forever be grateful for the collaboration and joy that sharing and receiving gives me. In December, I presented on hands on math for Flux Teacher institute. What a great space! This was a pedagogy based conference based in a...

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Teach It Up: Integrating Math and Art

Tamara — Sat, 04 Jul 2020 03:52:07 +0000

I love teaching math! I also love integrating math concepts with literacy and art! I had just done a unit on fractions that included measurement and line plots. The students did a fantastic job on their understanding of fractional equivalence and comparison, but I didn’t really spend very much time on line plots in a...

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Math Morning Work

Tamara — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 04:14:50 +0000

I really love teaching math! Honestly, like really, LOVE it. One of the ways that I have found to best support my instruction in the classroom is a spiral review. Last year, I started writing the problems on the board and having the students fold their papers and write the answers on paper. That worked...

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Telling Time in First Grade

Tamara — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 04:06:43 +0000

One of the areas that I’ve always enjoyed teaching is telling time. Students require lots of repeated practice on this skill in a variety of ways. In my classroom, I try to teach with the CRA method in mind. C for Concrete. R for Representational and A for Abstract. In first grade, I did a...

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The Aspects of Rigor

Tamara — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 03:51:58 +0000

One of the most important shifts I've grown in over the years is understanding what rigor looks like in math. We talk a lot these days about rigor, but the application of it is sometimes still a struggle. Let's talk about what it looks like in practice rather than in theory.

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SDE Las Vegas 2017

Tamara — Sun, 16 Jul 2017 03:58:07 +0000

There’s a beautiful vulnerability in presenting ideas. I think this year’s presentations really gave me further clarity about the direction I’d like to take going forward with what I share. This year, I had one session that was more along the lines of what I present here on my blog, and by far, it was...

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Snowmen in Third

Tamara — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 15:00:15 +0000

It’s always fun to tie learning into seasonal themes! This week, I wrapped up teaching Multiples of 10 to my students using this quick activity! I made some quick tracers out of manila folders. Three round circles, each one smaller than the other. They could all fit on one white sheet of construction paper. I...

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6 Easy Steps for Teaching: Money

Tamara — Wed, 25 May 2016 23:07:38 +0000

Hello friends! 🙂 So excited to share about how differently teaching money to my learners was this year, than last year. I’ve introduced a stronger standards based approach with my kids and I now hear and see more depth from them than I did before using this method. Let me break down what I’ve been...

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New Years Ideas for the Classroom

Tamara — Sun, 27 Dec 2015 20:00:00 +0000

As I sit down to think about what I want to do with my students the first week back, I really want to make sure that I give them a good amount of time to connect their peers, but then I want them to transfer that connection point into our studies for the week. I...

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Three Digit Addition Fun

Tamara — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 03:04:00 +0000

This week I had a really great time integrating math and social studies! Three digit addition is usually tough for firsties, but when I combined it with holiday themed story problems and a hands on map component, my kids thought this was the best math lesson in a long time. The first time I approached...

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Teaching Estimation

Tamara — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 08:00:00 +0000

The toughest part about teaching estimation is the concept of reasonableness. The goal of estimation is not randomness, but an approximation of a close answer. The best way to help students understand what a ‘reasonable response’ would be is to have many, many concrete examples of estimation that students can relate to and understand....

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