Smith Curriculum and Consulting

Where Interactive Teaching and Extreme Learning Collide

The Ultimate Puzzle Book for Kids

Picture it, Dallas, 1986... going into Toys ‘R Us for a reward with my parents and being the child who was always wanting to learn more, I picked up workbooks and many a puzzle book over being able to get toys. No matter where we went if I was able to choose something for myself it was always going to be an activity book. Hidden pictures, logic puzzles, word searches, crosswords... I loved them a ... View Post

Selecting Tools to Solve Problems

In the newly adopted Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standard 1c for each grade level states, "The student is expected to select tools, including real objects, manipulatives, paper and pencil, and technology as appropriate, and techniques, including mental math, estimation, and number sense as appropriate, to solve problems." And this standard is stated in the Common Core State St ... View Post

Analyzing Relationships in Math

Within the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) new standards have arisen to promote the communication of math skills. Common Core Math Practice Standard 3 states, “Students should construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others,” and Standard 8 states, "Students should look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning," while the Te ... View Post

Practical Problem Solving – Communicating Mathematical Ideas

Within the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) new standards have arisen to promote the communication of math skills. Common Core Math Practice Standard 3 states, "Students should construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others," while the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills Math Practice Standard 1d states, "The student is expected t ... View Post

Problem Solving – Why Is it Important?

Each school year we start with a new group of students and with that new crew we start fresh with working on problem solving in our math classes. I don't know about you but over the summer it seems as if most of my students always forgot what they had learned about solving problems from the prior years so it was like starting with a clean slate. The importance of teaching problem solving to our ... View Post

Math in Real Life during Thanksgiving

It's the first Wednesday of December which means it's time for our monthly linky - Math IS Real Life!! If you want to see how the linky works, or just want other real world math ideas, check out our Pinterest Board of all the posts so that you can look back and find some great ideas and REAL pictures to use in your classroom! If you are linking up, please include the below picture AND a link back ... View Post