Thought Exercises for Grade 3 Math System

A daily whole-group classroom system for assisting students with opportunities to develop their number reasoning, automaticity, and conceptual understanding of the four operations. This resource offers four types of 30-minute-a-day thought exercises specifically created to target problem solving and math reasoning skills.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

This resource contains:
–> How-to Guide for Classroom Implementation
–> 24 Weeks of Thought Exercises
–> Opportunities to customize and add additional weeks
–> Each week contains 4 different thought exercises
–> Each thought exercise contains 30 minutes of partner and / or whole group activities
–> Tips for teachers to implement this program

STORY

I attended a week-long mathematics professional development this last summer that opened my eyes to the importance of teaching number reasoning and reinforcing a conceptual understanding of mathematics in a world typically devoted to a get-to-the-standard-algorithm style of instruction or pedagogy based on non-conceptual shortcuts. I jumped in head first this year devoting thirty minutes of my daily teaching time to implementing this system, and I have seen fantastic results. Students are already understanding the fundamentals of multiplication and some fraction work and we haven’t officially taught multiplication or division yet this year.

IMPLEMENTATION

This resource gives you 24 weeks of intro-to-the-math-block thought exercises which bridge the gap from the addition and subtraction to multiplication and division. Set up the 30-minute exercises for the same time each day and allow learners the opportunity to lead deep discussions about the mathematics at play. Keep in mind this is a supplemental system for your regular math curriculum and works best if used consistently and in tandem with a regular math lesson.

POSSIBLE EXTENSIONS

All of the concepts included here naturally flow into your regular math lesson or can act as stand alone ideas depending on the day and student conversation.

MATERIALS/PREREQUISITES

Besides this resource, you may require:
–> Printed hundreds charts (printable included)