Teaching with Patterns

Part of what I love so much about math is the patterns. There are patterns in just about everything, and it simply amazes me at how much you can trust the patterns. Because I naturally love this characteristic of math, it's super easy for me to interest kids in discovering them. I'm always on the lookout for a new pattern I've never seen before, or a new way to use a pattern to help students master concepts or just simply become interested in topics.

After 3 years of private tutoring, I've encountered at least 5 high school students and more than 10 elementary students who needed help mastering basic facts. They could not accomplish the tasks at hand because they didn't know simple addition or multiplication, divisibility rules or counting patterns. So I've gathered some of my favorite patterns and teaching ideas to share with you. I can't take credit for any of these, because, well, quite frankly, I didn't invent math ;) Here they are:

Everyone knows the finger trick for counting by nines, but even that confused some of my students, until I showed them how to count like this...

But what about after the 10th number Miss Stefany?
        I just show them this...

There's a similar pattern for counting 8s as well...

And then this little bit...

I also found this helpful trick for counting 7s, I was always taught you just had to memorize these, but that isn't true!

count across 1,2,3 / 2,3,4 / 4,5,6

Start on left side and count 1 through 9

Just recently I found this circle counting trick, the most difficult part of this is drawing a circle :/ if you can get that part, just make sure the 0 is at the top and the 5 is at the very bottom, you can show patterns for EVERY number on this! Here are a few I've used with at least some success....

I also take the time to show my students what is NOT in the pattern. This helps them a lot later when we're working on multiplication facts. If one says that 4 time a number is 43, he immediately knows it's not right because NONE of the multiples of 4 ever end with a 3!

Would you like to take a peek at a few resources I've created that will help you explore these patterns and more? In recognition of Math Madness Wednesdays, I've decided to put ALL of my skip counting resources on sale from this Wednesday (June 25th) until Friday (June 27th)! If you grab a great deal, stop back here and let me know what it was. I'll pick one commenter on this post to win ALL of my skip counting resources! Winner will be chosen randomly on Sunday (June 29th), no later than 10pm EASTERN.

Thank you for stopping by! Click the image below to find more posts and resources all about this week's Math Madness topic: Patterns!

Assessing Your Students' Learning Styles

As teachers and tutors, we've been trained to recognize and differentiate according to student needs, including their individual learning style. But how important is it for our students to understand their learning styles? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one, please sound off in the comments below.

Found on Pinterest 

Here's an interactive lesson you can use with your kiddos. They will take a self assessment and then learn about their strongest learning styles. This should prove to be an invaluable tool in your teaching/tutoring repertoire!

http://www.educationworld.com

Once you AND your student have a good understanding of his/her learning style, you can tailor your lessons to meet his/her needs. Here are a few links I've found that might help you design lessons to reach your student from their perspective!

For your spacial and kinesthetic learners kinestheticlearningstrategies.com

Have an auditory learner successfulteaching.blogspot.com

How about some ideas for your visual learners brighthubeducation.com

I have a naturalist and it was hard for me as a logical learner to find ways to accommodate her, I wish I would have found this page 10 years ago! education.jhu.edu

Do you have a go-to-site you'd like to share with us? Please post your link in the comments below!

It's a Classroom Picnic Giveaway!

I have the pleasure of being included with a great bunch of teacher/creators who decided to put a few things together this week and let you all have the opportunity to win them...ALL!

We started with an easy little Facebook hop giveaway, each of us are giving away our individual resource on our Facebook Fan pages, you can get started on that hop right HERE

Then we decided to bundle all of our packets together and give you all the opportunity to win the whole bundle. 12 creators with resources worth about $10 each, that's nearly $120 worth of resources for you to utilize!

Let me just give you a taste of these fabulous resources.






1. The Teaching Momster is contributing a 4th/5th grade Factors and multiples packet. I love her fun coloring pages!







2. I am adding a brand new Fractions Practice. This one is designed to be used over the summer by 5th graders to keep those skills alive and active, saving next year's teachers a little bit of headache :) I used the format of many of my most popular multiplication games over at my TPT Store. I also added some bump games and a memory match with a picnic theme.






3. Simone's Math Resources has contributed a 5th/6th grade math game pack. Decimal flash cards and board games, I just love all of these FUN ways to practice math skills!









4. Mist Miller from the Little Room Under the Stairs has added another fantastic math resource. Can you feel the theme? We have all been thinking fractions, decimals, factors, Oh My!

5. Enough Math already? No way! One more, bundled with a bit of Social Studies and Science too, from the Pensive Sloth!










6. Ok,  now we can move onto some fabulous ELA prizes. JB Creations has put together this bundle for 3rd to 5th graders

7. We have a year long Spelling activities packet from For the Love of Teaching. I have a better picture for this one, but must get this post finished!









8. A  project based learning activity for math, from Performing in Fifth. I just looked this over, and what a fun way to incorporate reading, writing, math and science!










9. A comprehensive reading packet from The Owl Spot. No matter what novel you teach, your students will benefit from these 6 different resources. Activities range from vocabulary to characterization to novel responses.

10. A a novel unit bundle with 4-print and go units with answer keys from Mrs Beers.
Then we have a couple resources just for you teachers!

11. Classroom management from One Stop Teacher Shop. This isn't just a one year plan book, its everything you need to keep your classroom organized, for life!

12. Awards and Memory Books from Teaching Ideas 4 U.






Phew! I guess I didn't realize just how awesome this bundle of goodies was until I had to type them all out! Would you like to get on with trying to win this? Enter the rafflecopter below. All of us are involved in a collaborative group, so please follow our group Pinterest board #LessonDeli and then have fun checking out our Stores, Pinterest pages, Facebook Fan Pages, and Blogs!


a Rafflecopter giveaway