Teaching Math: Grades 4-6

Learn how to reinvent math instruction for grades 4-6. This course will show you how to get the students in your classroom excited about math through hands-on learning, inexpensive manipulatives, and real-world connections.

Details
Syllabus
Requirements
Instructor
Reviews

Enrollment Options

$130.00

Select Instruction Type:

Self-Guided

3 Months Access

No Instructor. Course begins when you enroll.

Instructor-Moderated

6 Weeks Access

Study online with Instructor moderated discussion boards.

Select Course Start Date:

December 18, 2024

January 15, 2025

February 12, 2025

March 12, 2025

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$130.00

Self-Guided

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Details

Reinvent math instruction for grades 4-6 by bringing hands-on learning, inexpensive manipulatives, and real-world connections into your classroom. Whether you're a new teacher or a seasoned pro, this course will help you get your students excited about math! You will turn your students into problem-solving detectives and discover lots of fun and practical ways to extend your students' learning into everyday life.

This course will show you the best ways to walk students through the complexities of elementary school math. This course will give you strategies for teaching complicated vocabulary and problem-solving. You will learn how to use clever geometry manipulatives, handmade fraction bars, math journals, and Family Math nights to excite your students at little or no cost to you. So if you have been looking for a way to jumpstart your math instruction without adding a lot of work, this is the course for you.

Syllabus

Lesson 1 - Meet Your Math Students

Whether you're a new math teacher or an old pro, this course will help you get your students excited about math! To get started, you need to know what kind of learners you have in class. Visual, auditory, and tactile-kinesthetic students are all going to process your lessons differently. The trick is learning teaching strategies to get everyone up to speed, so that's what this first lesson will talk about.

Lesson 2 - Talk the Talk

In this lesson, you'll find out how to teach your students to talk the talk as they walk the walk in your math classroom. You'll discover five keys to effective vocabulary instruction and how to start using them.

Lesson 3 - Have a Little Number Sense

Ever wonder if your students have any number sense? It's sometimes tricky for children to understand how 1 relates to 100 or how 100 relates to 1,000. But they won't be confused much longer if you try the smart tips for number play that you'll go over in this lesson.

Lesson 4 - Multiply the Fun

Is multiplication mastery becoming a bore for your students? In this lesson, you'll learn how to multiply the fun in your classroom with models, facts beyond the tables, and real world applications.

Lesson 5 - Scale the Divide

In this lesson, you'll step into division, evaluating strategies for teaching the long and short of it. From the grocery store to the baseball game, you'll discover ways to connect division to life outside the classroom. This lesson is packed with a creative punch!

Lesson 6 - Halve the Work With Fractions

Are you ready to halve the work with fractions in your classroom? In this lesson, you'll look at a variety of manipulatives and models that bring fractions to life. You'll learn how to tell the difference between proper, improper, and mixed numbers so that you can teach them like a pro.

Lesson 7 - Ready, Set, Solve!

Ready, set, solve! This lesson will show you how to get your young math detectives thinking with some innovative problem-solving strategies. The best part is that you get to bring the whole world into your four walls.

Lesson 8 - Hop a Plane With Geometry

This lesson is about hopping a plane with geometry! You'll learn how to make geometry hands-on and practical within the space of one lesson. As an added bonus, you'll learn how to get your students thinking into the future with some geometric career connections.

Lesson 9 - Get in Groups

You may have already tried cooperative group work in your math classroom, but get ready to polish your approach with some tips on integrating group work to maximize student learning. Whether you want to use pairs, clusters, or teams, ask your students to pull together for some fun math lessons.

Lesson 10 - Read and Write About Math

It might seem a little funny to break out the composition books in the math classroom, but don't be surprised that when your students read, write, and talk about math, they're learning multiplies. By getting kids to write, you not only get a sneak peek into their minds, but you can help them embrace the multidisciplinary world around them.

Lesson 11 - Test It Out

Most students see assessments as red pens and big x marks, but it doesn't have to be that way. In this lesson, you'll learn the keys of effective performance and traditional assessments that will help you understand how well you're teaching and how well your students are learning.

Lesson 12 - Plan Family Math Night

Are you always looking for ways to involve students' families in math? From assigning the right homework to designing Family Math Nights that'll have the whole school talking, you can take the math classroom to students' homes and bring their families to school with the smart strategies you'll discover in this lesson.

Requirements

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

PC: Windows 8 or later.
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

Instructor

Michele Thrailkill

Michele Thrailkill fell in love with math as a child and has spent the last 10 years of her teaching career making numbers fun for a diverse range of students. Eager to share her easy, inexpensive, and creative teaching strategies with others, Michele worked for a state Department of Education, where she created statewide lesson plans and evaluated web-based material for classroom inclusion. In her spare time, she published two teachers' manuals focusing on introductory mathematics for preschool and elementary students.

Reviews

I found this class to be very helpful. The lessons were loaded with lots of useful strategies to use in the classroom. I also liked the supplementary material. I have already used those in my room. Thank you!

I loved this course. I have accumulated so many great ideas from the instructor and other students. It has been so valuable. Thank you

I thought the instructor did a great job of presenting the material and gave very helpful links for the teachers to use in the classroom.

Thanks! This class was full of wonderful information. I look forward to trying these in my classroom.

Thank you for a terrific class; it was so much fun and I gained may new ideas to use in my classroom. Your passion for math made me smile through all the lessons. You have a wonderful teaching style and it was a pleasure to have you as my instructor.

Thank You!!! I have learned so much from this course. There are so many things that I have already used. I can’t wait to use more of the ideas that you have presented. I enjoy taking classes that allow me to take things back into the classroom and use right away. I learned about so many wonderful ideas. Thanks again for all that you provided.

This has been the best online course I have taken. You have fabulous ideas and didn't water down the curriculum. You treated us like professionals and I highly recommend this class! Keep up the good work!

Even though I have been teaching math for 20 years, your course brought back ideas that I somehow have "shelved" during my tenure! I have taken MANY notes as to what I would like to bring back into my classroom!

Michele is a powerhouse of a teacher. Lessons were fresh and well-constructed and resonated true challenges in the classroom. She was inspiring and wise in her coaching and ideas. Her students are fortunate to have her as a math teacher, as I was to have her teach me how to be better at my teaching game. You won't regret this class.

Michele's enthusiasm for math is contagious! She presents her mastery of skill in an artful and fun way. Her ideas are brilliant and very creative. I love how fluidly she interweaves vocabulary, critical thinking, problem solving, games, and literacy into math. After taking the class I feel inspired to make math fun. Excellent course, I would highly recommend to educators needing a boost in their math curriculum!