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What Do You Notice? Number Wheel

What Do You Notice? Number Wheel

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Skills:
K-2: number recognition, counting, geometry
3-5: addition/subtraction, patterns, odd numbers

This is a fun puzzle where the main objective is to figure out where the three missing numbers of the “spokes” are placed. Since the numbers 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are visible, the missing numbers would be 3, 4, and 10 (assuming we are using the consecutive numbers 1 – 10. There is an alternate solution for the missing numbers 0, 3, and 4 which is described below).

Younger students may notice a circle, a square, and (10) “triangular” pie pieces. They will probably notice that some of the spokes are missing numbers. Starting at 1 and counting on, they may discover the three missing numbers: 3, 4, and 10. It would be interesting to ask them where they think the numbers go on the wheel and why they chose those specific spokes.

Older students will quickly notice three missing numbers. With a little bit of guidance, they should be able to notice some patterns that can help them determine where the missing numbers should be placed.

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What Do You Notice? Gumballs

What Do You Notice? Gumballs

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So this was a super fun What Do You Notice? poster I created for my last Family Math Night event. Not only is it colorful, but who doesn’t like gumball machines?!

Skills:
K-2: counting, even numbers, skip counting by twos, comparison
3-5: probability, fractions, money

This is a fun one simply because of the fun gumballs and gumball machine. That said, there is still a lot of math going on. Young students can count the number of different colored gumballs. They can compare colored gumballs to see which color has the least and which color has the most. They can even count all the gumballs to arrive at a total.

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Family Math Night What Do You Notice? Poster

Family Math Night What Do You Notice? Poster

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So for this What Do You Notice? poster, I decided to tie in rectangular arrays with prime and composite numbers.  That said, whatever math-y thing students notice is totally acceptable.  For example, one student noticed that the “buildings” had square windows.  Great.  That’s a little bit of geometry.  Another student noticed that each set of colored rectangles included the same number of squares.  Again, great, as that required some counting and comparison.  Just like the student who noticed that there are…

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Embedded Instruction

Embedded Instruction

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When my oldest son was entering Kindergarten, he had an appointment with his teacher before the school year started so that she could assess where he was academically.  I remember sitting in the back of the room and listening to the two of them chat about his interests, his summer activities and his thoughts about being in Kindergarten. She then asked him if he could count to 100 for her.  Without skipping a beat, my son asked if she wanted…

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