Pedago Net
Math Games Using Dice and Cards to Promote Mental Strategies
Develop mental math skills using these fun partner games. Covering basic operations, each one offers differentiation options, extension ideas, and clear directions. Dice or cards is all you'll need to keep kids' attention as they...
Illustrative Mathematics
Fundraising
In order to solve for who raised the most money, learners will need to choose an appropriate math strategy or tool to help them. Two possible solutions, one involving pictures and one involving abstract thought, are presented in the...
Illustrative Mathematics
Using Benchmarks to Compare Fractions
Introduce a new strategy for comparing fractions by analyzing Melissa's use of benchmarks. Walk the class through her process, calling on students to explain their understanding of each step she took. Then practice this method on two...
Illustrative Mathematics
Building toward fluency
Here is a great learning task that focuses on the development of areas in computational fluency including strategies in mental math. Young learners are guided through a list of addition expressions that help them visually understand the...
Education Development Center
Geography of the Number Line
It's more than just numbers on a line, its an organizational, mental math machine to help learners understand the value of numbers. The tool is handy when introducing positive and negative integers to see their values and...
Illustrative Mathematics
Equivalent fractions approach to non-repeating decimals
Trying to get your class to think of decimals as fractions and vice versa can lead to interesting discussions. After all, we can usually understand quickly that 1/4 is .25 but why is 1/7 not so easy to convert? This activity looks...
Curated OER
Comparing a Number and a Product
Mental math strategies are important for fifth graders to be able to determine the greater sum without actually solving the equations. As a summative assessment, this eight-problem worksheet can give insight into the understanding of the...
Other
Casting Out Nines: A Math Computation Checking Strategy
It's a mathematician's dream come true. An easy trick for checking mathematical computations, without a calculator! Believe it or not, it works with all four operations.