The Math Learning Center Blog

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...

The 3Rs—Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic—have been foundational in education for thousands of years. My recent book, The Fourth R , adds to that list Reasoning/computational thinking. It concerns using human brains and computer brains, individually and working together, to solve problems and accomplish thoughts. Like each of the traditional 3Rs, computational thinking is both a discipline of study...

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...

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...

The array model, used throughout Bridges, is the subject of “Arrays, Multiplication and Division” by Jennie Pennant from nrich.maths.org. The piece outlines how the array model supports development of a sense of multiplicative relationships and describes how to move students from building multiplication facts and tables to exploring division as the inverse operation of multiplication. The author...

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.

Watch a short video on how to download and use the Number Rack App. Jami Smith is a media specialist for MLC.

Watch a short video on how to download and use the Number Line App. Jami Smith is a media specialist for MLC.

MLC will showcase our new edition of Bridges in Mathematics as well as our growing collection of free virtual manipulatives at the NCTM regional conference November 6-8 in Louisville, Kentucky. On Friday morning from 9:30 to 10:30 Pia Hansen, director of professional development, will present an Introduction to Bridges Second Edition. We hope all who attend will join us to learn more about work...

Watch a short video on how to download and use the Number Pieces App. For examples of the Number Pieces App in the classroom, check out our pinterest board. Jami Smith is a graphic designer and social media manager for MLC.