MATH TOOLS GLENNA RECOMMENDS
24 Game Algebra + Exponents
Glenna uses this game with middle school and high school students to encourage them to remember and use rules for exponents and to practice algebraic thinking.
24 Game Double Digit
Glenna uses the 24 Game Double Digit version to layer on the complexity of practicing basic facts, order of operation, computational proficiency and algebraic thinking.
24 Game Single Digit
Glenna uses the 24 Game Single Digit because this is the BEST game to encourage students to learn their basic facts. It’s competitive, challenging, and FUN!
24 Game Variables
After your students are introduced to variables, this 24 Game engages them in the practice of the use of variables.
2-Color counters
Glenna uses 2-color counters when students explore integers. It’s very easy to differentiate red for negative numbers and white or yellow for positive numbers. 2-color counters can also be used for addition and subtraction problems.
Algebra Tiles
Glenna uses Algebra Tiles to help Algebraic concepts become concrete. From creating expressions, equations, polynomials, and even factoring trinomials, Algebra Tiles are amazing!
Anglegs set of 74 with protractor
Glenna uses Anglegs for exploring every level of Geometry concepts. Her students call them the “Legos” of math.
Ants, Plastic
Glenna loves using cool counters to solve math problems and to engage students in learning complex concepts. A bag of 12 ants can be organized into arrays to concretely illustrate factors and a fact family. Ants can be divided with and without remainders. A bag of ants, a picnic tablecloth, and math is just more fun!
Attribute Blocks
Attribute blocks help children learn about characteristics of shapes in a concrete way. If you put a big, thick, red circle next to a little, thin, yellow circle, you can describe what you see and feel that differentiates the two shapes.
Avatar Sets
When the game calls for an avatar, you can pick from one of these!
Base Ten Blocks, Class Set
Master the fundamentals of place value and regrouping with this base ten set of units, rods and flats. Used in Race to A Flat game.
Bingo markers
The best way to mark a dot on a ten frame for the Flash-a-Frame Game is with a Bingo Marker. Glenna used to put adhesive dots on one at a time until one of her teachers showed up with a Bingo marker. Anything that’s less than $5 and saves time is worth it!
Building Blocks
These building blocks are great for Tens of Towers (primary) and Building Block Expressions (Algebra). They provide a concrete way to manipulate the items in a word problem that will support understanding the concepts!
Card Stock
If you need a good card stock, delivered to your door, this one is great! Check out the other colors, too!
Flies
More bugs mean more fun. You can mix the flies in with the roaches and ants for a wonderful concrete experience with math concepts.
Foam Dice
The “Number Generators” that are quiet — important parts of several Tabor Rotation activities.
Folders
These folders are perfect for Leader Folders in all your activities!
Fraction Bars
Beginning in the 3rd grade, Glenna recommends that every classroom have this iconic representation of fractional parts of a whole. She uses Fraction Bars for many games and students never forget that ¼ is smaller than ½ , even though 4 is greater than 2.
Glitter Pens
For those days when you need to cheer up and be happy, write with a glitter pen!
Hefty Jumbo Bags
Having many stations and many items, Glenna has found that one of the easiest ways to store them is in jumbo zippered bags. These jumbo bags seem to be the perfect size sense they accommodate multiple sets of materials for pairs and the Leader Folder.
Large Craft Sticks
Craft sticks are a staple for any manipulative box or closet. The craft sticks can be used for counting, for number sentences, for illustrating geometric shapes, and for equity sticks when calling on students.
Magnetic Bingo Counters With Wand
Translucent markers for graphs as well as Bingo and Tic Tac Toe! Using the magnetic wand to pick up the markers is just plain fun!
Napkins, red checked
It may seem trivial, but having a picnic tablecloth when solving word problems with ants sets the tone and engages the learner every time. They will never forget what you teach them if you use really cool tools!
Plastic plate, blue
Fractional parts of a whole, decimals, and percents can be concretely explored by cutting the radius of two different color plates, stacking them together, and turning one of them. This is one of Glenna’s favorite colors to use.
Plastic plate, yellow
Glenna stacks the yellow plate on top of the blue plate to help students concretely experience fractions, decimals, and percents.
Playing Cards
If you are looking for playing cards for Place Value Challenge and Decimal Place Value Challenge, here are some we use!
Roaches
The idea of buying plastic roaches may make some people shudder, but Glenna can get the most reluctant student to learn the formulas for area and perimeter if they get to use roaches to do it. Realistic plastic ones work best…
Sand Timers
Just about anything can be more fun if you put a timer with it and challenge against others or against the time itself and sand timers are an inexpensive tool to facilitate this.
Sheet Protectors
Place directions, sample recording sheets and any other important information for Leader Folders in a sheet protector. This sets the page apart and protects it.
Unifix cubes
Glenna recommends using Unifix Cubes to help students understand place value. A base-ten stick is still one stick, but a stack of ten cubes clearly and concretely illustrates that ten cubes equal one ten.
XY Coordinate Pegboard
Students will grasp slope and intercept as well as algebraic functions. This math tool rocks!
Zoo Animals
More avatars or the fun pieces to use in Distributive Property Zoo.
Books Glenna Is Reading—Math
10 Monsters in the Bed
17 Kings and 42 Elephants
Anno's Mysterious Multiplying Jar
The April Rabbits
Crayola Counting Book
The Doorbell Rang
Fifty of the Zebra
Frog and Toad Are Friends
How Many Snails
The Hundred Penny Box
The King's Commissioners
Lunch With Cat and Dog
The M & M's Counting Book
Millions of Cats
Mouse Count
Notorious Numbers
One Hundred Hungry Ants
One Watermelon Seed
One Yellow Lion
The Purse
Rajah's Rice
A Remainder of One
Sea Squares
Six Dinner Sid
Two of Everything
Wolf's Chicken Stew
Books Glenna Is Reading—For Fun
Asphalt Warrior by Gary Reilly
When you begin to read about Murph, a protagonist and resident of Denver, you will feel as if you are in the cab next to him. One of my favorite parts of this book was his yearly spring break. He earns enough to take a week off so he can lie on a beach towel in his living room and do nothing. I’ve always wanted to do something like that.
Call of the Wild by Jack London
My 8th grader had to create a project based on this novel and asked me for my feedback. It was worth the read to have a meaningful book talk with one of my children!
The Giver by Lois Lowry
This is one of the books my children selected for me to read aloud during dinner. I won’t tell you the ending, but it’s worth the read with your tweens and teens!
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Gayle Forman does an amazing job of bringing the characters in this story to life and makes you feel as if you are there with each of them. It was an emotional story and I was absorbed from the first page to the last.
Instant Happy by Karen Salmansohn
My daughter and I were listening to an interview on the way to school one morning and heard some of the reasons why the author wrote the book. Karen believes that we need to have 10-second “thought interventions” that will train our brain to be positive.
Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
I was quite intrigued by the behavior of elephants that the book explores. Elephants are fascinating creatures that are committed to each other. (Can you tell I’ve been watching the Animal Planet channel with my children?)
Let Me Hold You Longer by Karen Kingsbury
Let Me Hold You Longer is going to make you sniffle a little, but it is a nice reminder to treasure every moment–first and lasts.
Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport
The illustrations, the phrasing, and the flow of this book are quite powerful. In fact, the illustrations are so good that the book was a Caldecott Honor Book. Each page is thought- provoking and worth a pause as you read it. Here is just one, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?”
Max: Best Friend. Hero. Marine by Boaz Yakin, Jennifer Li Shotz, and Sheldon Lettich
Typically, I read the book and then watch the movie. This time I watched the movie with my family and then read the book. I so enjoyed this book that I went on to read No Better Friend about a dog adopted by the Navy.
Memory Man by David Baldacci
This is a riveting novel about a man who is the first football player from his town to go pro. On his first play he is hit in a head-to-head collision. He recovers but has an interesting side effect. He can never forget anything.
To the Nines by Janet Evanovich
Yes, this is the 9th book in her series about Stephanie Plum, a spunky bounty hunter from New Jersey. Every single one of her books makes me laugh out loud throughout the entire book.
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
This is a mature fairy tale that takes you back to the way you used to feel when you read fairy tales as a child. The protagonist is a strong character, the female friendships are written well, and I’m on the edge of my seat to get to the next scene.
The Writer’s Notebook by Ralph Fletcher
“… a writer’s notebook gives you a place to write down what makes you angry or sad or amazed, to write what you noticed and don’t want to forget. A place to record exactly what your grandmother whispered in your ear before she said good-bye for the last time.” Get a copy, get a notebook, get a favorite pen, and WRITE!
Books to Thicken Your Dendrites
Action Jackson by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
This book is placed in the genre of picture books, but it has thickened my dendrites every time I read it. I’ve read many articles and books about Jackson Pollack, but this one helped me imagine how Pollack must have been thinking.
Beautiful Souls: The Courage and Conscience of Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times by Eyal Press
Why do ordinary people do extraordinary things? This book is not about the Mother Teresas or Mahatma Gandhis of the world. It’s about people like you and me. It’s about ordinary people who made choices that changed the lives of others.
Boundaries
What is a boundary? It’s what makes you you. It’s your beliefs and your dreams and your values. It’s your soul and your heart.
Camelot’s Court: Inside the Kennedy White House by Robert Dallek
Reading this book has helped me understand the many possible solutions to the problems that were facing our nation. I learned that Kennedy was receptive to both good and bad advice. I understand more about his effectiveness as a leader who averted a nuclear war—even though many of his military leaders advised him differently.
Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World Paperback by Tony Wagner
A powerful text that not only articulates the need to foster innovation through education but embodies the spirit of innovation through a range of case studies and clarion calls for change. This book will reinforce why you are doing what is best for ALL your students and thinking outside the box as a teacher or parent!
Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success by Adam Grant
In a world that is focused on “self” I am thoroughly enjoying reading about studies that prove giving is better than taking.
Grace Based Parenting: Set Your Family Free by Dr. Tim Kimmel
A primary reflection as I read this book is that my attitude is the only thing I can change. I can never change another person. I can only offer them the opportunity to have my grace given to them. What they do with it, no matter how undeserving they are of this merited favor, is up to them.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Condo
I have always been an organizer and list maker. I’m also the first one to want to tidy up a room. I like reading something that impacts my life for the better and this book truly has.
Mathematical Mindsets: Unleashing Students’ Potential Through Creative Math, Inspiring Messages, and Innovative Teaching by Jo Boaler
As I was just now diving into it I wrote: it’s soooooo good that I wanted to share it with you. It talks about how we, as teachers, can truly impact students reaching their potential.
The Mozart Effect by Don Campbell
Campbell shows how modern science has begun to confirm, with scientific evidence, that listening to certain types of music can improve the quality of life in almost every respect, high blood pressure, anxiety, chronic pain, dyslexia, and even mental illness.
The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth am I Here for?
“It’s not about you.” With that line as my holiday slogan it was easier to decorate the tree—I simply let my children do it. There are clumps of ornaments, the weirdest ornaments are the most prominent, there are blank spaces, AND, most importantly, there are 3 children who think the tree looks perfect. I couldn’t agree more…because it’s not about me!
QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life Hardcover – by John G. Miller
An easy, interesting read and provides examples of the actions of true leaders. The book also illustrates how everyone can become a responsible, contributing member of any community. Would be a great book for cultivating leadership in the classroom and in PLCs.
Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by SherryTurkle
It made me stop and think at the end of every page. This was the quote that made me want to read the book, “Face-to-face conversation is the most human—and humanizing— thing we do…..”
The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive and Thrive by Michael Fullan
If you are a change agent in your family, school, or group, this is a must read. If nothing else, it will help you to understand what will help you personally.
Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement 2nd Edition by Pearson Prof. Growth
This book is an indispensable resource for teachers who want to explicitly teach thinking strategies so that students become engaged, thoughtful, independent readers. The comprehension strategies apply in all subject areas–including math!
The Vatican Pimpernel: The Wartime Exploits of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty by Brian Fleming
As you read you understand that the Monsignor was charismatic a master manipulator, and highly skilled and organizing and implementing the rescue and safety of escaped POWs. It is not fiction, but it reads like a suspenseful novel.
Who Moved my Cheese by Spencer Johnson
Basically, the book uses cheese as a metaphor for whatever you want and value in life and what happens when those things, “the cheese,” is gone. There are lots of lessons to learn from this book.