Strategic Intervention Solutions: Recent Episodes
Shannon McCartney
This podcast is the audio version of the SIS4Teacher blog, published weekly. at Strategic Intervention Solutions, we help teachers gain confidence in their instruction by helping them appreciate the importance of numeracy development and the stages of mathematical thinking and application. Our strategies and solutions are practical and can be immediately implemented into classrooms for student success.
See how to use these versatile, non-proportional manipulatives to help students deepen understanding of math concepts from addition through division!
Visit the blog for visuals, and additional resources: https://sis4teachers.org/2022/01/using-place-value-discs-in-the-math-classroom/
From Kinder through 5th grade, find out how to incorporate place value strips into your instruction in the classroom to deepen conceptual understanding in so many different areas of math!
For pictures, downloads, and videos, visit the blog: https://sis4teachers.org/2021/10/22-ways-to-use-place-value-strips-to-teach-math-k-5/
Get the answer to this common question (along with a free download!) on the blog this week:
https://sis4teachers.org/2021/09/what-do-i-put-in-a-math-salad-bar/
See blog post here: https://sis4teachers.org/2021/08/5-tips-for-back-to-school-in-the-math-classroom/
What a year! 112 shows in the books and a look back at the past crazy, exciting year we've had at SIS4Teachers!
https://sis4teachers.org/2021/05/celebrating-112-shows/
Episodes 403-404.
Get the most out of the Math Mights Shows with these teacher notes! We’ll bring you into our planning process a little bit, help you learn what each show is about, what strategies we use and why, and even what manipulatives we choose and why.https://sis4teachers.org/2021/05/math-might-teachers-guide-episodes-403-404/
Episodes 401-402.
Get the most out of the Math Mights Shows with these teacher notes! We’ll bring you into our planning process a little bit, help you learn what each show is about, what strategies we use and why, and even what manipulatives we choose and why.
https://sis4teachers.org/2021/05/math-mights-teachers-guide-episodes-401-402
Episodes 317-318.
Get the most out of the Math Mights Shows with these teacher notes! We’ll bring you into our planning process a little bit, help you learn what each show is about, what strategies we use and why, and even what manipulatives we choose and why.
https://sis4teachers.org/2021/05/math-mights-teachers-guide-episodes-317-318/
Episodes 315-316
Get the most out of the Math Mights Shows with these teacher notes! We’ll bring you into our planning process a little bit, help you learn what each show is about, what strategies we use and why, and even what manipulatives we choose and why.https://sis4teachers.org/2021/04/math-mights-teachers-guide-episodes-315-316/
Episodes 311-312
**Get the most out of the Math Mights Shows with these teacher notes! We’ll bring you into our planning process a little bit, help you learn what each show is about, what strategies we use and why, and even what manipulatives we choose and why.
https://sis4teachers.org/2021/04/math-mights-teachers-guide-episodes-311-312/**
Episodes 313-314
**Get the most out of the Math Mights Shows with these teacher notes! We’ll bring you into our planning process a little bit, help you learn what each show is about, what strategies we use and why, and even what manipulatives we choose and why.
https://sis4teachers.org/2021/04/math-mights-teachers-guide-episodes-313-314/**
Episodes 309-310
Get the most out of the Math Mights Shows with these teacher notes! We’ll bring you into our planning process a little bit, help you learn what each show is about, what strategies we use and why, and even what manipulatives we choose and why.https://sis4teachers.org/2021/04/math-mights-teachers-guide-episodes-309-310/
We all have stories of how this past year has changed or grown us, and in this blog series, I want to highlight a few of those stories. I hope you can identify with and be encouraged by the teachers in our series as they share challenges, victories, and the tips and tricks they’ve learned along the way.
This week, we feature an interview with Kristin Marczak, a 1st grade teacher from the UP. She’s an expert at doing numeracy talks, being able to really look at students in her classroom and figure out where their needs are best met by bringing in concrete, pictorial, and abstract means.
https://sis4teachers.org/2021/03/teaching-in-the-trenches-of-covid-guest-post-by-kristin-marczak/
We all have stories of how this past year has changed or grown us, and in this blog series, I want to highlight a few of those stories. I hope you can identify with and be encouraged by the teachers in our series as they share challenges, victories, and the tips and tricks they’ve learned along the way.
This week, we hear from Tiffany Markavich, 1st Grade teacher. If you’ve watched any of the 1st grade Math Mights shows, then you’ve seen Tiffany at work! She is an amazing teacher! I’ve had such fun working with her on the show, but I also know she is a rockstar in her classroom as well.
https://sis4teachers.org/2021/03/teaching-in-the-trenches-of-covid-guest-post-by-tiffany-markavich/
We all have stories of how this past year has changed or grown us, and in this blog series, I want to highlight a few of those stories. I hope you can identify with and be encouraged by the teachers in our series as they share challenges, victories, and the tips and tricks they’ve learned along the way.
This week, we hear from Sara Katt, 5th Grade Math Teacher. Sara teaches 100% virtually and is amazing at it! Through all the change and uncertainty, however, Sara has embraced the virtual teaching platform and continues to fulfill her calling as an educator, even if it looks a little different these days.
https://sis4teachers.org/2021/03/teaching-in-the-trenches-of-covid-guest-post-by-sara-katt/
**Teachers around the world are in the trenches, experiencing the effects of COVID and the pandemic on their instruction, and many are left wondering where their kids actually are in their understanding.
Read more: https://sis4teachers.org/2021/03/addressing-the-covid-slide/**
Episodes 307-308.
**Get the most out of the Math Mights Shows with these teacher notes! We’ll bring you into our planning process a little bit, help you learn what each show is about, what strategies we use and why, and even what manipulatives we choose and why.
https://sis4teachers.org/2021/02/math-mights-teachers-guide-episodes-307-308/**
Get the most out of the Math Mights Shows with these teacher notes! We’ll bring you into our planning process a little bit, help you learn what each show is about, what strategies we use and why, and even what manipulatives we choose and why.https://sis4teachers.org/2021/02/math-mights-teachers-guide-episodes-305-306/
Get the most out of the Math Mights Shows with these teacher notes! We’ll bring you into our planning process a little bit, help you learn what each show is about, what strategies we use and why, and even what manipulatives we choose and why.https://sis4teachers.org/2021/02/math-mights-teachers-guide-episodes-303-304/
Episodes 301-302.
Get the most out of the Math Mights Shows with these teacher notes! We’ll bring you into our planning process a little bit, help you learn what each show is about, what strategies we use and why, and even what manipulatives we choose and why.
Episodes 217-218.
Get the most out of the Math Mights Shows with these teacher notes! We’ll bring you into our planning process a little bit, help you learn what each show is about, what strategies we use and why, and even what manipulatives we choose and why.https://sis4teachers.org/2021/01/math-mights-teachers-guide-episodes-217-218/
Episodes 215-216.
**Get the most out of the Math Mights Shows with these teacher notes! We’ll bring you into our planning process a little bit, help you learn what each show is about, what strategies we use and why, and even what manipulatives we choose and why.
https://sis4teachers.org/2021/01/math-mights-teachers-guide-episodes-215-216**
Episodes 213-214.
Get the most out of the Math Mights Shows with these teacher notes! We’ll bring you into our planning process a little bit, help you learn what each show is about, what strategies we use and why, and even what manipulatives we choose and why.https://sis4teachers.org/2021/01/math-mights-teachers-guide-213-214/
Multiplication isn’t a new topic for our blog - we’ve talked about our multiplication journals and lots of games like Multiplication Bump! or Multiplication Speed! But, today, we’re going to rewind to the very beginning - how to introduce multiplication!
**To really introduce multiplication correctly, I think it's important to add the K (kinesthetic) to the CPA or Concrete, Pictorial, and Abstract. Today, I want to show you how to do that at the beginning of your multiplication unit as students are just starting to learn the concept.
https://sis4teachers.org/2020/12/introduction-to-multiplication-kinesthetic-level/**
**That is the question that I am asked most often when going to schools. There are so many different options out there, but is there a perfect math series?
Read the whole post: https://sis4teachers.org/2020/12/which-math-curriculum-is-best/**
https://sis4teachers.org/2020/10/visual-models-demystifying-additive-and-multiplicative-comparison-problems/
In this back-to-school blog series, we're going to go through the different types of conservation milestones that we want kids to hit, as well as how we will know they have the early foundations of numeracy in place before we start building number sense.
Each step in the developmental journey to confidence in problem solving is important so that we help our littles arrive in the proper way instead of trying to force application of word problem skills too soon. To help students in this step, we’ve created the My Math Word Problem Journal, which is developmentally appropriate for kindergarten students at the end of the first semester or the beginning of the second semester. Every journal page takes students through this entire process, so by the end of 75 days, it should be ingrained in their brains! This will help our Kindergarten littles as they head into 1st grade, where they’ll continue to build on higher levels of understanding.
Watch the videos, get the free downloads, and read more here:
As students master the first two developmental stages, we can move them into the next stage which is acting out story problems using CPA. This has nothing to do with the person who does your taxes, but everything to do with getting kids to express their knowledge of mathematics concretely, pictorially, and abstractly.Story mats are an excellent way to help children solve problems with different types of real-world scenarios.
Get a sample of the story mats, watch the video tutorials, and read the rest here: https://sis4teachers.org/2020/04/math-in-the-real-world-with-littles-word-problem-story-mats/
The next step in building a foundation for problem solving with littles is to use what we call quantitative pictures - pictures with lots of things to count! Find out how to use quantitative pictures and ask different types of questions (from beginning to challenging) to help students think about numbers. Quantitative pictures aren't just for little either! See how you can use them beyond early childhood by applying any math concept!
Read the blog, see the videos, and get the downloads: https://sis4teachers.org/2020/04/math-in-the-real-world-with-littles-quantitative-pictures/
Mathematical Practice 2 states that children should be able to “Reason abstractly and quantitatively.” What does that even mean?? It means that students need to apply mathematics into real world scenarios, or word problems. However, word problems can be intimidating for teachers and students alike. See how we can start building the foundation for story problems for our littles by creating opportunities for intentional math-focused conversations about things that happen in our daily routines.
Read the blog, see the videos, and get the downloads here: https://sis4teachers.org/2020/04/math-in-the-real-world-with-littles-creating-a-math-friendly-home/
Journey through the process of learning to subtract fractions, from the beginning of developing conceptual understanding through common denominators, uncommon denominators, and mixed numbers. Meet Springling, the fanciest of the Math Mights who helps students work with an open number line to find the distance between two numbers, and learn why it's not actually borrowing - it's renaming!
Read the blog post and watch the videos: https://sis4teachers.org/2020/03/subtracting-fractions/
Learn how to establish a conceptual understanding of addition fractions - both with common and uncommon denominators. Shannon explains how to simplify or reduce improper fractions (or fractions larger than one), and how to add fractions in a way that will help students truly understand the why before the how of a memorized procedure.
Watch the videos and learn more here:
Fractions don't have to be scary! By establishing (or re-establishing!) what division is REALLY all about, you can help students transition easily into dividing fractions. This week, Shannon uses pattern blocks to walk you through the process of teaching students how to divide with fractions, beginning with dividing a whole number by a fraction and then naturally progressing to dividing two fractions.
Watch the videos and read the post here: https://sis4teachers.org/2020/03/working-with-fractions-dividing-fractions/
Fractions got you frazzled? Shannon explains how to teach students about multiplying fractions, beginning with a conceptual knowledge of multiplication and using manipulatives to help students visualize the process.
Read more: https://sis4teachers.org/2020/03/working-with-fractions-multiplying-fractions/
Uncover/Cover is a simple fraction game that can be easily differentiated in your classroom and uses some great fraction tools - fraction tiles and area model papers. Players try to be the first to either cover or uncover their whole with fractional parts rolled on a die. This helps students visualize the relationship between fractional parts and eventually equivalent fractions as well.
The Subtraction Edition of Math Mights Showdown features Springling, Minni and Subbi, D.C. and our beloved T-Pops. Students can use these characters to show off their problem solving strategy skills with subtraction problems!
Read More: https://sis4teachers.org/2020/02/math-mights-showdown-subtraction-edition/
Download the game board: https://sis4teachers.org/MMShowdownSubtract
Shop Math Mights: https://sis4teachers.org/shop/mathmights
Math Mights have had made a tremendous impact on the level of problem solving I'm seeing in the students in our project schools! Math Mights Showdown is a simple addition game that uses the Math Mights pencil toppers and Addition/Subtraction dice to help your students practice and show off their problem solving skills - either in a number talk, in a Math with Someone station, or in groups. Math Mights Showdown was designed to help you continue to reinforce the Math Mights and their strategies in the classroom while making it fun and exciting to solve problems!
Read the blog here: https://sis4teachers.org/2020/02/6823/
Strategy games are an important strand of math games that are designed to help kids become more strategic in their thinking and should be threaded throughout our math workshop. Bonus: these games are fun, fast-paced, and simple to play anywhere!
Read the post here: https://sis4teachers.org/2020/02/math-game-tutorials-strategy-games/
Learn how to play two more multiplication games - Speed! and Tetris. Speed helps students learn to recognize patterns, which then solidifies fact fluency. Tetris helps students begin to understand the commutative property of multiplication. Both games are easy to set up, easy to play, and fun for students!
Read the full blog post here: https://sis4teachers.org/2020/01/making-math-with-someone-easy-with-math-game-tutorials-speed-and-tetris/
Building on the foundation of Bump Addition, Bump Multiplication will be a breeze for students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade! Get all the rules, tips and tricks, and a free download on our blog post: https://sis4teachers.org/2020/01/making-math-with-someone-easy-with-math-game-tutorials-multiplication-bump/
Move your students towards independence and buy back time in your Math Workshop using video tutorials for math games! See how that looks practically in a classroom and learn about today's spotlight game: Bump!
Face those fraction units head-on, armed with a fully stocked and organized Math Salad Bar full of manipulatives, such as fraction tiles, colored paper/area model paper, and pattern blocks, to help fractions make sense to your students!
Ever wish your manipulatives would organize themselves?? You're not alone! With a few tips and tricks, organizing your Math Salad Bar doesn't have to be painful!
Read the blog here: https://sis4teachers.org/2019/12/organizing-your-math-salad-bar/
Don't just "teach division" - help students solidify an understanding of what’s going on when we divide, even if we’re using the traditional method by using Shannon's sequence of strategies.
Read the blog post here: https://sis4teachers.org/2019/11/shannons-sequence-of-division-strategies/
In the 21st century, motor skills aren’t always as developed as they should be before kids enter kindergarten. In this blog, we observe two students going through the numeracy screener.
Read the blog here: https://sis4teachers.org/2019/11/do-motor-skills-affect-student-achievement
As I’ve honed my craft of professional development, the strategic lens that I used in special education has continued to be my guide. However, instead of peeling back layers of students, I wanted to transition to more of a systems approach where I could help peel back the layers of a whole school to figure out why they were struggling in various areas like numeracy development or problem solving.
Read the blog post here: https://sis4teachers.org/2019/11/my-journey-from-educator-to-entrepreneur-part-2/
For a long time, people have asked me to tell my story...from classroom to consultant, here it is!
Read the blog post here: https://sis4teachers.org/2019/11/my-journey-from-educator-to-entrepreneur/
Help your students develop fast fact fluency with this great new game!
Read the blog post here: https://sis4teachers.org/2019/10/multiplication-patterns-and-the-need-for-speed/
Spoiler alert - it's going REALLY well! Hear from some of the key players in the field as we implement our new curriculum.
Read the blog here: https://sis4teachers.org/2019/10/hows-it-going-voices-from-the-field-of-implementation/
If we want to be able to show growth in what we’re doing, we can’t just keep doing it the way we’ve always been doing it.
Read the blog post here: https://sis4teachers.org/2019/10/part-3-the-meat-of-the-mini-binder/
Here’s part 2 of our mini binder project – the fun parts: manipulatives and games!
Read the blog here: https://sis4teachers.org/2019/10/mini-binders-part-2-the-fun-part/
So many resources stored in so many different places, so little time! One of the biggest universal frustrations of teachers seems to be finding the things they need.
Read the blog here: https://sis4teachers.org/2019/09/mini-binders-part-1-one-stop-shop-for-curriculum-resources/
How do we know if our curriculum is working??
Read the post here: https://sis4teachers.org/2019/09/is-it-working-the-role-of-assessment-in-instruction-by-design/
When you think of “curriculum,” what comes to mind? Hint: It's not the textbook! The first in a series of blogs, this episode introduces the comprehensive Instruction by Design project we undertook this summer with several of our elementary schools.
Read the blog here: https://sis4teachers.org/2019/09/an-inside-look-at-instruction-by-design/