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In this episode, we explore how simple materialsâlike beadsâcan transform your math centers. Beads arenât just colorful and fun; theyâre powerful tools for counting collections, building fine motor skills, and creating patterns. Weâll dive into hands-on activities like Spin and Thread, DIY number racks, and engaging rekenrek games that help students strengthen their number sense and counting strategies. Whether youâre looking for easy prep ideas or creative ways to switch up your manipulatives, this episode is packed with practical tips you can use tomorrow. Tune in and bring new life to your math lessons!
Helpful Links:
Spin and Slide
Spin and Thread
Pick Build Cover
Rekenrek Mini Bundle
Blog Post
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Today's episode comes from a listener email about getting buy-in from other teachers to give BTC a try!
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K Task Bundle
1st Grade Task Bundle
2nd Grade Task Bundle
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Transforming your classroom into a Building Thinking Classroom is an exciting journeyâbut when it comes to consolidating learning and reflecting on problem-solving tasks, it can feel tricky with younger students. Between stamina struggles, time constraints, and building those metacognitive skills, whatâs a teacher to do?
In this episode, weâre tackling those challenges with fun and effective strategies to wrap up your thinking tasks:
đ¶ïž Check Your Understanding Questions Use âmild,â âmedium,â and âspicyâ extension questions to give students a choice and push their thinking a little further.
đČ Games for Consolidation Turn reflection time into play with quick, themed games that tie into your tasks and can double as math centers later!
đ Meaningful Notes Help students record their learning in creative waysâlike fill-in-the-blanks, circling items, or drawingâso they can revisit important strategies and takeaways later.
đĄ The 4-Quadrant Method Break down strategies and reflections into bite-sized pieces for young learners to understand and remember.
Whether itâs through playful games, choice-driven questions, or creative note-taking, these approaches will keep your students engaged and make math reflection meaningful and manageable.
Links & Resources:
đ Blog Post
đ Grab Kindergarten, 1st Grade, or 2nd Grade Thinking Task Bundles here!
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Letâs make consolidation time just as exciting as problem-solving! đ
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In this episode, we dive into how AI tools like ChatGPT can support teachers in crafting creative and engaging math tasks for Kindergarten, 1st-grade, and 2nd-grade students. While AI canât replace the human magic you bring to your classroom, it can be a great brainstorming partner to help spark ideas, refine tasks, and create meaningful learning experiences.
đ Key Takeaways:
The Power of Specific PromptsA generic prompt like âGive me math tasks for countingâ might not get the best results. Instead, provide details like grade level, standards, goals, and even a story context.Specificity helps AI provide deeper, more tailored responses.Ask for VariationsEncourage creativity by requesting multiple examples or exploring specific parts of a task.Need thin-slicing? AI can help you design tasks with increasing levels of difficulty, ensuring they meet your learning objectives.Engagement MattersBeyond math concepts, you can ask AI for fun and creative ideas, like coming up with 10 names for a fictional business that include puns or alliteration to match your theme.Adding a playful twist makes tasks more enjoyable for students!Check the WorkWhile AI can do a lot, itâs not perfect. Always double-check tasks for accuracy, especially as the math becomes more advanced or nuanced.Use AI as a starting point but refine the details yourself to ensure theyâre just right for your students.đĄ Final Thoughts: AI isnât magicâitâs a tool. It wonât create slides, choose the perfect context, or capture your studentsâ unique needs. What turns an idea into a task your students love is you. Your creativity, expertise, and connection to your class are what make learning truly come alive.
đ Looking for Pre-Made Thinking Tasks? Check out our Kindergarten, First Grade, and Second Grade bundles for ready-to-use ideas tailored to Building Thinking Classrooms!
âš Join the Conversation: Have you used AI to create math tasks? Share your experiences and tips with us on Instagram or [email protected]
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Looking for ways to make 2nd-grade math engaging and fun? In this episode, weâre sharing creative, story-based tasks that get your students excited about skip counting, place value, addition, subtraction, and moreâall while building critical math skills!
Hereâs what weâre covering:
đ Skip Counting at the Orange You Sweet Orange Factoryâhelp your students count baskets of oranges in multiples of 5, 10, or 100.
đŸ Place Value Party Planning with the Aliens of Countariaâcan your students decode the alien languages and save the âOutta This Worldâ Block Party?
đŽââ ïž Treasure Hunt Adventures with Pirate Captain Redbeardâsolve length problems to navigate the treasure map and uncover hidden treasures!
đ« Brownie Partitioning at the Brownie Bakeryâpartition rectangles into rows and columns to figure out brownie orders.
đ Measuring with the Cube Queen and Popsicle Stick Kingâcompare measurements and decide when to use larger or smaller tools.
đŠ Dreaming of Ice Cream with Whirlâd of Swirlsâbuild rectangular arrays to keep up with growing ice cream orders.
Links & Resources: đ Grab the full task bundle here! đ Check out the blog post here!
Tune in and letâs make math an adventure! đ
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Today, weâre diving into something that every early elementary teacher has faced: coming up with the perfect math taskâespecially for those curious First Graders. Sometimes, it feels like the hardest part, right?
Well, no worries, because weâve got some exciting, hands-on ideas to spark engagement and build math confidence in your students! Weâll talk about:
Blog Post
đ Story-Based Problems that bring math to life with fun narratives.
đą FREE 100 Chart Mysteries where your students will outsmart the 100 Chart Thief.
đ Pizza Fractions at the Dough-licious Pizzeria.
đ Nonstandard Measurement Adventures with the Cube Queen and Popsicle Stick King.
đĄ Data and Graphing at the Laugh-A-Lot Carnival.
đČSkip Counting by 5 with dice
đșComposing Shapes with pattern blocks
âSave â±ïž and đž on the 1st Grade Task Bundle!â
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Sometimes coming up with a task for Kindergarten is the hardest part! In this episode, I share 7 tasks perfect for your kindergarten classroom in a building-thinking classrooms style! Dive into the world of playful, hands-on math tasks in this episode of Making Number Sense Make Sense! From counting and number writing with the mischievous dogs at Paw-some Pups Playhouse to solving addition problems with a broken cash register in "Cash Out," weâll explore creative ways to engage young learners. Plus, hear how sorting toys, composing shapes, and comparing lengths bring math concepts to life through fun, story-driven activities. Whether you're teaching counting to 20, addition within 10 or 20, or tackling shape challenges, these tasks will have your students excited to learn and eager for more!
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Helpful Links
Kindergarten Task Bundle
Kindergarten Task Bundle Blog
Counting and Number Writing Task
Cash Out Addition Within 10
Sorting Task
Composing Shapes Task
Comparing Longer and Shorter Task
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The hardest part about Building Thinking Classrooms is finding the tasks when you want to spice it up a bit! In this episode, I'm walking you through how I approach coming up with ideas for tasks! Want the task I talked about? You can get the 2nd Grade Cash Out Task here! K and 1st Grade versions are below.
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BTC Free Task
BTC Starter Pack
Kindergarten Task Bundle
1st Grade Task Bundle
2nd Grade Task Bundle
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Since you seemed to enjoy Math Games for Morning Meeting, this is a companion episode, not a math specific episode but helpful to create a respectful community so that all our academic work and be more successful! I'm going over packing up routines, closing circle routines, and how kids leave the classroom during dismissal.
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Truth. Kids don't need addition and subtraction symbols to do addition and subtraction symbols. But when they do, give them a littleâŠspice.
Today weâre talking about how to give those squiggles meaning!
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Addition and Subtraction Lessons
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Subtraction games can be tricker than addition because we donât want students working with negative numbers in Kindergarten or First grade! This episode shares 5 print-and-play math games you can use in your classroom tomorrow!
Your students will practice math facts, writing equations, working independently and with partners, freeing you to circulate or work with small groups!
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Timestamps
1:06 - Spin and Subtract
2:15 - Spin, Roll, and Color
3:14 - Build, Roll, and Break
4:00 - Spin, Roll, and Remove
4:32 - Jump Around
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Blog Post
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Addition and Subtraction Games Bundle
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I love a good game to have kids learning and practicing math! The applause my students give when in math center time is music to my ears!
These addition games are pretty simple and don't include a lot of varied directions, perfect to free you up to circulate the room if you need to or pull students one one-on-one or in a small group because they're engaged in these fast-paced games that are accessible to them and easy to differentiate.
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Timestamps
1:14 - Spin and Add
1:46 - Roll A Two-Color Tower
2:57 - Ladybug Addition
3:41 - Add Them Up
4:46 - Sevens
Helpful Links
Blog Post
Get the Games!
Addition and Subtraction Games Bundle
Spinners
Dice Stickers
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Sometimes you have the perfect lesson and crickets. Or⊠most of your students get it, but there are a handful who donât. What do you do for them?
In this episode, Iâm sharing tips to help your struggling mathematicians!
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As teachers, it's our job to be the ones doing the âteachingâ but there is a lot we can learn from our students too! Far beyond the most recent slang or trending dance on social media!
Today I shared 4 things my students remind me of all the time!
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We know that differentiation is good for kidsâŠbut who has the time? These differentiation methods are quick and easy to implement in the classroom! You can see all of these ideas and differentiated centers on the blog!
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Helpful Links
Dice Game Sampler Freebie
Pick Build and Cover 10 Frames
Number Rack, Rekenrek Differentiated Centers
Spin and Build
Pattern Block Roll, Count, and Cover
10 Frame Dice
D & D Dice
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In this episode, I share some hands-on array math centers and a Building Thinking Classrooms Math Task involving arrays and unknown factors!
Big kids love centers too!
Get a free repeated addition task! Escaping Ants!
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Blog Post
YouTube Video
Array Bundle!
Roll an Array
Pick and Build Arrays
Spin, Multipliy and Find the Array
Empty The Board Multiplication
Array Bake Sale Task
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This week we are talking all about 10 frames! Ten frames are a math tool that can help students develop anchors to 5 and 10 which are important pre-place value skills! I levels of the concept of 10, and 5 frame, 10 frame, and 20 or double ten frame activities you can use in your classroom today!
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Helpful Links
Blog Post
Get All the Activities
Quick Images 5, 10, 20 Frames
Pick, Build, Cover
Spin and Build
Roll and Write 10 Frames
Time Stamps
0:37 What is a 10 Frame?
1:52 Levels of Concept of 10
4:03 Activities with 10 Frames
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Morning meeting is a great way to connect with your students and build a classroom community. There are times when you just play to play, but if you want to sneak in some math in the morning meeting, I have versatile 5 games for you to do just that!
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Time Stamps
1:00 In-and-Out Dance-A-Thon
2:33 What Number Am I Writing
3:52 Team Building
5:52 Catch My Pattern
6:47 Whatâs My Number
Helpful Links
Blog Post
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