Maria's Math News, October 2019

Hello again!

Math Mammoth news
Where do I start?
NEW at Math Mammoth Practice (grades 1-8)
Listening to students' reasoning
Learn to recognize coins (grades K-2)
Just for fun!

1. Math Mammoth News

We're getting ready to publish new 2020 versions for grades 4 and 5 (in the Light Blue series complete curriculum). For grade 5 in particular this means some major changes... for the better! The long decimals chapter is broken into two chapters, for one thing, and many lessons in it are completely revised. Other changes too.

I will email more details about it later on, and explain how you can get the new version (if you purchased a digital version in the past).

A testimonial with photos (posted with permission)...

Hi Maria! I just bought your Light Blue series for my two sons, both homechooling here in VT. They love it. The text is so well laid out and carefully and thoughtfully worded and I really appreciate the absence of crazy colors and busy designs - does not overwhelm the eye and keeps it simple and relaxing.

I looked at many different curriculums and none had the simplicity I was comfortable with for my style of teaching. Attached are photos of them with their thumbs up; each with their new book, and bookmarks made to match.

The name (Mammoth) is hitting a fun spot for them.

Thanks for your work creating and offering this great opportunity to study math.

Sincerely,
Esther M.
Manchester, Vermont

2. Where do I start?

Where do I start with Math Mammoth? is a question I often hear (or read 😀 ). Most of the time, the best starting place is the placement tests page.

Looking over the tests will give you an idea of what is covered in each grade level of Math Mammoth.

A natural next step is to administer a placement test or several (instructions for this process are found on the page), but it's not always necessary to administer a test. Sometimes the teacher/parent can see just by looking at the tests where the child would place.

Often, the test reveals gaps, and you can use the TOPICAL books of the BLUE series to fill them in.

Or, you can use other materials you might have, Khan Academy, etc. Sometimes it works out to use one of these review books to help a child get more solidified before starting a particular level in MM:

Skills review workbooks for grades 1-6

Review workbooks for grades 1-7

So, that is the typical process. 😃

3. NEW at Math Mammoth Practice:

4. Listening to students' reasoning

If you have a minute, here is a fascinating post about how a bunch of 3rd graders go about finding the answer to 12 ÷ 5.

Notice how the teacher does NOT put down the answers -3 or 0, but asks the students HOW they arrived to those conclusions.

The final consensus comes from using a visual model 😄 — which is a great way to go when explaining division with remainders.

5. Learn to recognize coins

From my newsletter 10 years ago...

Image by Stopnlook on Flickr

I explained how to get started helping my daughter to count coins: Learn to recognize coins

6. Just for fun!

Weird things that make you happy as an adult

Thanks for reading!

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Till next time,
Maria Miller