100th Day of School Celebrations
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Many elementary schools plan celebrations for the hundredth day of school, marking a milestone in the school year and celebrating this important base-ten number. Primary students who have been adding a straw or craft stick for each day of school finally get to bundle their first 100, reinforcing the base ten nature of our number system. Older students might create Name-Collection Boxes for 100, including examples from all areas of math that illustrate 100 (e.g. perimeter, area, mean, median, mode, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, equation, numerical expression, algebraic expression, pattern, etc.) |
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| There are also several literature books that celebrate the day and teachers often include these in activities for this special day. Be sure to plan math activities to accompany the books and the math-literature connection is complete. |
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Mathwire Theme Math Activity Collection: Snowman Math
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This collection of Snowman Math Activities includes Mathwire.com activities from the Winter 2005 and Winter 2006 collections: snowman glyphs, math-literature connections and links to snowman collections on the web. The collection also includes several new Mathwire activities: measurement activities, graphing suggestions, snowman math mats, three different versions of a new snowman game and some new snowman problem solving tasks. |
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Featured Game: Last Snowman Standing
| The snowmen face off in this game of addition facts. But beware! A toss of the die may mean the sun melts a snowman. Students practice addition facts as they try to be the last snowman standing because in this game the first person to remove all of his/her snowmen loses the game! Read more about data collection activities using this game and suggestions for differentiating the game to meet the varied needs of learners in the classroom. |
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Download the  Last Snowman Standing Game for directions and game mats for three different versions of the game:
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Strategy of the Month: Writing in Math Class
Teachers incorporate writing in math class to help students reflect on their learning, deepen their understanding of important concepts by explaining and providing examples of those concepts, and make important connections to real-life applications of the math they are learning. Teachers use the writing assignments to assess student understanding of important concepts, student proficiency in explaining and using those concepts and each student's attitude toward learning mathematics. Writing in mathematics is a win-win for both teacher and student. Although it may be difficult to introduce this practice, it is well worth the effort. Look for simple ways to incorporate short writings throughout daily lessons and longer writings over the course of weeks or math units.
- Read more about
Writing in Math Class for additional suggestions and strategies.
Tip of the Month: Include Written Responses Regularly in Math Lessons
Some students need help writing math responses. For some, it's simply a matter of establishing the audience, as in Pretend you're telling me what you would do. Others need help organizing their thoughts or using math vocabulary. Use your informal assessments to shape writing exercises for your students. Use whiteboards whenever possible. There's something about the use of the marker and the easy erasing that's appealing to students. Students often produce better results using this tool and teachers get easy feedback on student understanding. It's a win-win!
- See Writing in Math Class for suggestions for using Think-WRITE-Pair-Share to encourage both written and oral responses, making each student accountable for a written response.
Recent Additions to Mathwire.com
Check the New on Mathwire.com webpage to see what's new on the site this month.
Check the Recent Additions to Mathwire.com webpage to see the most recent additions to the site this month.
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Mathwire Search Options
New to Mathwire.com? There are several ways to search the site for activities by Math Standard, Math Topic, or using an alphabetical search.
- See Searching the Mathwire.com Site for a thorough explanation of these search options.
About Mathwire.com
Mathwire.com is designed to provide activities and appropriate worksheets for teachers to use in their classrooms. All activities and worksheets support the constructivist approach to learning mathematics and the NCTM Standards.
Activities: The activities on this site were developed by Terry Kawas and the teachers in districts where she has worked as a math consultant and coach or with students she has taught in college math-methods courses. The activities are classroom-tested by teachers and appropriate modifications have been made to reflect this field-testing. These activities are posted online in an effort to share quality activities and routines within the mathematics community.
Terms of Use: Teachers are welcome to download any of the activities for free use in their classrooms. No activities may be copied for use on other websites or included in commercial products without permission in writing from Terry Kawas, webmaster. Contact Terry Kawas