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Illustrative Mathematics
Coins in a Circular Pattern
What starts as a basic question of division and remainders quickly turns abstract in this question of related ratios and radii. The class works to surround a central coin with coins of the same and different values, then develops a...
101 Questions
Blocks
Block play can teach children about gravity, physics, and spatial relationships. A hands-on lesson incorporates these concepts with an activity in which learners examine the relationship between levels in a pile. Scholars begin to...
Curated OER
Carnival Tickets
A great subtraction and division discovery opportunity for young mathematicians, this learning task involves seven word problems that require multiple steps. Learners use a math table to persevere in solving problems that are...
Curated OER
Gifts from Grandma, Variation 1
Composed of three word problems, this math activity exposes young mathematicians to relationships present in multiplication and division. The first problem is most useful with a tape diagram in which learners are working with equal-sized...
Curated OER
Visiting the Arcade
Second graders take a trip to the arcade in an activity that engages them in problem solving with money. Composed of three word problems, youngsters are instructed to determine various combinations to represent a given value by using...
Curated OER
Classroom Supplies
Challenge young mathematicians to buy classroom supplies by staying within the means of a $1,000 budget. The mathematical activity provides learners with the opportunity to decide what items from the supply list would benefit a class of...
Illustrative Mathematics
Gifts from Grandma, Variation 3
There are three money word problems in this activity, each one is set in the same context. The first asks what was the total amount grandma spent, the second how many grandchildren grandma has, and the third asks how much grandma spent...
Curated OER
Changing It Up
How should a cashier stock a cash register with coins? Learners use mathematical modeling and expected value to determine how many rolls of coins of each type they should place in a cash register.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Phonological Awareness - Phoneme Segmenting and Blending, Treasure Chest
Working in pairs, scholars use picture cards to practice segmenting words into phonemes and blending phonemes into words. When a peer answers correctly they place a penny in a treasure chest. Incorrect responses make the card go back in...
Scholastic
Dreidel Game and Song
The dreidel song, or "I Have a Little Dreidel," is a fun traditional song for the season of Hanukkah. Teach your class how to play the dreidel game with an activity that includes the lyrics to the classic song.
Illustrative Mathematics
Heads or Tails
Heads! A great way to practice probability is to flip a coin in class. The provided data allows your mathematicians to predict the probability of heads in ten coin flips. Bring coins to class and allow your own trial of heads or tails....
101 Questions
Super Bear
Bear with your classes as they explore unit rate and proportions using gummies! Gummy bears come in many different sizes, including a 2,250-gram super bear! The task asks learners to determine how many regular bears and how many mini...
101 Questions
The Incredible Shrinking Dollar
Make money disappear! Young scholars watch as a copier shrinks a dollar bill to 75 percent of its size. Learners are left to determine the size of the dollar bill after nine passes through the copier.
Curated OER
St. Patrick’s Day
Combine math, creative writing, and leprechauns in a fun St. Patrick's Day activity! Using a bag of gold coins and marshmallows, kids write a math story about a leprechaun that includes a multi-step equation to solve.
Illustrative Mathematics
Movie tickets
This is a good Common Core question that relates inflation to operations with decimals and rounding. Young learners are asked to find out if an amount of money can purchase the same amount of movie tickets in 2012 as it did in 1987. They...
Illustrative Mathematics
Setting Goals
Setting financial goals is a common occurrence in middle school that your learners can practice using this activity. They will be able to solve for how many hours Seth needs to work to save up for a skateboard, helmet, and trip. The...
Computer Science Unplugged
The Peruvian Coin Flip–Cryptographic Protocols
A digital flip. Introduce your classes to cryptographic protocols using and, or, and not gates. Groups create a complete circuit to convert a binary number into another one. This type of one-way function allows pupils to...
Illustrative Mathematics
Buying Protein Bars and Magazines
Packing for a trip? This activity allows learners to decide how many magazines and protein bars they can buy with twenty dollars. They can organize their work in a chart to track how many items they can purchase. There are two different...
Illustrative Mathematics
Ice Cream Van
In an open-ended problem, learners calculate costs involved in driving an ice cream van. Is it better to park in one place or drive through different neighborhoods? Learners look at these and other factors and must make reasonable...
Illustrative Mathematics
Walk-a-thon 1
Your mathematician's job is to explore the relationship between hours and miles walked during a walk-a-thon. The activity compels your learners to experiment with different means in finding out this proportional relationship. The answer...
Illustrative Mathematics
$20 Dot Map
Challenge the addition skills of young learners with this open-ended math problem. The task is simple, get from start to finish by connecting a series of three numbers. The trick is that the sum of the numbers must be less than...
Curated OER
James and the Giant Peach Character Study
Every book has a few great characters, but James and the Giant Peach is the only one whose characters travel in a piece of fruit. The class creates T-charts for the main characters of the novel, while reading the book. They write actions...
Illustrative Mathematics
Seven Circles III
A basic set-up leads to a surprisingly complex analysis in this variation on the question of surrounding a central circle with a ring of touching circles. Useful for putting trigonometric functions in a physical context, as well as...
Illustrative Mathematics
Walk-a-thon 2
During a walk-a-thon your learners must determine the walking rate of Julianna's progress. Using tables, graphs, and an equation, they must be able to calculate the time it took her to walk one mile and predict her distance based on the...