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The Math Learning Center Blog

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DeSoto Parish School System in Louisiana adopted Bridges in 2013. With Bridges, educators and district leaders alike have witnessed the transformation of classroom environments. Students are engaged, working together, checking one another’s work and truly understanding concepts. Bridges is engaging students in math and teaching them to become creative problem solvers. “Bridges creates that...
Lake Forest School District in Illinois adopted Bridges in 2013. Teachers credit Bridges with helping them teach valuable life skills such as communication, critical thinking, problem solving, and positive student interaction. Additional significant changes include students’ increased risk taking and recognition that there is more than one answer and strategy to a problem. Bridges is designed to...
The Leander Independent School District in Leander, Texas, adopted Bridges in Mathematics in 2014. With Bridges, Leander students’ confidence in math is growing as they learn multiple strategies for problem solving. Teachers have seen improvement in students’ mathematical thinking, communication, and academic confidence that carries into other subject matters. As one educator put it, “Most...
Children need lots of practice, with various activities in different settings, to develop a strong sense of number. My kindergartners love an activity I call Estimation Bag. I place a small plastic container inside a canvas bag, and a student adds a single type of object: paperclips, pennies, barrettes, etc. We start with 10 or fewer and increase the quantity to between 10 and 20 after a month or...
Marion Leonard
Learning List , a K-12 instructional materials evaluation service, recently released independent alignment reports and an editorial review of Bridges in Mathematics second edition. Each grade level K-5 was found to address 100% of the Common Core State Standards. Number Corner second edition was also reviewed. Grades K-5 were found to address on average 95% of the Common Core State Standards...
The Number Pieces app is an excellent tool for teaching and learning place value. Here are a few activities that you can use with kids in grades 1–2. These activities explore base ten concepts and models within 1,000 that will help lay the foundation for learning double-digit computation. Activity 1: Ask the child to show a certain number using the base ten pieces. For example, 3 tens, 7 ones, and...
Jami Smith
Dan Meyer, former high school math teacher presented a TEDtalk titled “Math class needs a makeover.” In this witty examination of a typical high school math lesson, Meyer outlines his teaching techniques which are anything but typical. Restructuring textbook math problems to contain far less helpful information has helped his students engage in real world math conversations, and most importantly...
Jami Smith
The Number Frames App is now available for download! Here's a quick overview of how the app works. Click here to download Number Frames. Jami Smith is a media specialist for MLC.
Jami Smith
We are excited to be attending the NCTM Annual Meeting in New Orleans this year! In addition to showcasing Bridges Second Edition and our growing collection of virtual manipulatives, we will be hosting five presentations on various topics. Tiers, not Tears, for Early Numeracy Support Pia Hansen and Laurie Kilts Thursday, 12:30 pm–1:30 pm Room 214 in the Convention Center Racks, Lines, and Pieces...
Jami Smith
I recently helped co-host a S’more Math Family Night event that was a hit for all involved. We started by having students and their families meet in the school's multi-purpose room, where I introduced some of the new visual models and strategies students would employ this year. After our brief chat, everyone headed off to a classroom where students led some of the Work Places currently in play...