I’m talking about the original, 1984 Karate Kid, not the remakes. Go back and watch it, if you’re not familiar. In the Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi teaches Karate to a young Danny LaRusso but it’s not in a way Danny expects. First, he asks Danny to wash and wax all the cars - there are at least four of them - and then wax them. Wax on (right hand). Wax off (left hand). Both in circular patterns. Then, he asks him to sand the floor using sanding disks (one for each hand), again in circular patterns.

Part 3 in a three-part series about the connections between Fluency, Numeracy, and CT.

Name It and Connect It Part 1 of this series was all about feeling the structure of mathematics. We looked at what fluency actually is — and what it compresses. In this post, I'll be discussing the three big structures behind all of the strategies for K-5, and how they connect to fluency and numeracy. Across all of K–5 mathematics, three big structures do most of the heavy lifting. They don't belong to any single grade level or content area. They run through multiplication, fractions, place value, and early algebraic thinking like a spine.

When we teach students about patterns, we're really teaching them how to begin to think algebraically. This is especially true when we use Growing Patterns or Visual Patterns from Fawn Nguyen. When we use these patterns, we usually give the first three like you see in the image below. We often ask students to build the next 2 or 3 stages which opens the door to describing how it grows which leads to a discussion about what is staying the same and what is changing (algebra). But, what if we wanted to make this a more creative exploration to ignite curiosity and engage students more.

Free high impact MATH PD from your couch! Hosted by @makemathmoments #mmmsummit2025

The Slinky Task was dropped a couple of weeks ago and I've spoken to a number of people who had a lot of questions about it, so I've added some interesting facts (FAQs) about this task below. Enjoy. How did you come up with this idea for the task? I was at a nearby school last fall working with one of the teachers there and a friend of mine, who also works there, mentioned that some students were eating lunch in her room and one of the boys was playing with a slinky that she had.

Georgia Stanards: 5.NR.3, 6.NR.1, 7.GSR.5 Common Core Standards: 5.NBT.B.7, 5.NF.B.4, 7.G.B.4 Act 1: Ask students: What do you notice?  Record student responses. What do you wonder?  Reco…

Georgia’s K-12 Mathematics Standards: 6.NR.4, 7.PAR.4 CCSS: 6.RP.3, 7.RP.3 Act 1 Ask students: What do you notice?  Record student responses. What do you wonder?  Record student cur…

Hubbub is a partner game for kindergarten and early elementary. It uses color counters and cubes to generate different combinations. The game is played with students questioning and assessing their…