Math Tricks

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If we are going to embrace the common core and deepen our students’ conceptual knowledge in math, we need to teach them math - not tricks.  I have heard teachers say “…but my students can get the answer if they use the trick.”  We need to understand that math is not about “getting the answer,” it’s the process we use to get to the answer.  Students will not be able to get to an application level if the only thing they know how to do is apply steps or tricks to problems.  Students are not doing math, if they don’t understand what they are doing and why! 

When we spend more time up front with the concrete and pictorial representations, students will retain the information better and be in a position to use that information in various situations.  It’s the age old dilemma of depth over breadth.

I have attached a document (rather lengthy) of common tricks we might see. This article is a work in process and this is the 2nd publication of the article.  It was created by upper level teachers that struggle with students’ lack of conceptual understanding.   We have taught with tricks for so long, you might not even realize how you are teaching is a trick!  This article is constructed in such a way that you can jump directly to those sections that apply to your grade level to see if how you are teaching is indeed a trick and offers a possible way to teach for understanding.

Nix the Tricks



What a fun way to grab your kids while building number sense!

http://www.murderousmaths.co.uk/games/missingdigit.htm