Episode 198 - Tips for Using Games to Build Math Minds with Dan Finkel
In this episode, Christina Tondevold welcomes special guest Dan Finkel, founder of Math for Love and creator of popular games like Prime Climb and Tiny Polka Dot. Dan shares his three essential principles for effectively implementing mathematical games in the classroom: games should involve meaningful choices, math should be the engine driving the gameplay, and games should be simple to learn and quick to play. Through personal stories and classroom examples, Dan and Christina explore how games transform math from a dreaded chore into an engaging learning experience. The episode concludes with a demonstration of the "31 Game," a simple yet strategic counting game that exemplifies how mathematical play can build number sense, encourage strategic thinking, and create a classroom culture where students aren't afraid to show what they don't know. Perfect for educators looking to reinvigorate their math instruction between standardized testing periods! Join the Build Math Minds PD site to access the Mini Courses https://buildmathminds.com/bmm/ Dan’s website Math For Love https://mathforlove.com/ Dan’s game Prime Climb https://amzn.to/3Y3jN5y Dan’s game Tiny Polka Dot https://amzn.to/44sfRiI
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Episode 197 - Upleveling Missing Part Games
In this final episode of our three-part series on upleveling missing part activities, I share ways to transform two popular math games: Salute and Number Sandwiches. Learn how to modify these traditional games to help your students build a deeper understanding of number relationships through missing part problems. These upleveled versions create opportunities for students to work with equivalent expressions while maintaining the fun and engagement of game-based learning. Perfect for elementary math teachers looking to enhance their daily math lessons with games that challenge students to think more deeply about mathematical relationships.
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Episode 196 - Repackaging Style Word Problems: Transforming Missing Part Word Problems
In this second installment of our three-part series on Missing Part Activities, we explore 'repackaging tasks' - a powerful approach to traditional missing part word problems. While educators are familiar with finding unknown parts in word problems like “Christina has $12, she spends some now she has $7. How much did she spend?”, repackaging tasks push mathematical thinking further by having students redistribute quantities across equivalent expressions. Through practical examples in both multiplication and addition contexts, I demonstrate how these problems help students develop a deeper understanding of equality, number properties, and flexible thinking strategies. Learn how incorporating these enhanced word problems alongside your regular curriculum builds stronger mathematical minds. Part 1 is Episode 195 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZZKctj2pns
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Episode 195 - Upleveling Missing Part Activities to Build Deeper Mathematical Thinking
In this episode, we explore how to elevate your 'Missing Part' math activities beyond the basic type like 5 + __ = 12' into more problems that help students develop a deeper understanding of mathematical equality and build foundational number properties. Get a quick way to implement these enhanced activities in your classroom. Perfect for elementary educators looking to strengthen their students' mathematical thinking without explicitly teaching formal properties. This is the first in a three-part series on upleveling Missing Part activities for more meaningful math instruction.
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Episode 194 - The Truth About Mental Math - It's Not Just In Your Head
In this episode, we explore the common misconception about mental math in mathematics education. Featuring insights from Pam Harris' newly published book 'Developing Mathematical Reasoning: Avoiding the Trap of Algorithms,' we discuss why mental math isn't about doing calculations without paper—it's about developing quality thinking strategies.
The Build Math Minds podcast is for my fellow Recovering Traditionalists out there. If you don’t know whether or not you are a Recovering Traditionalist, here’s how I define us. We are math educators who used to teach math the traditional way. Flip lesson by lesson in the textbook, directly teaching step-by-step how to solve math problems. But now, we are working to change that to a style of teaching math that is fun and meets our students where they are at, not just teaching what comes next in the textbook. We want to encourage our students to be thinkers, problem solvers, and lovers of mathematics..we are wanting to build our students math minds and not just create calculators. If that is you, then this podcast is for you.
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