Lesson Plans
Introductory text.
"Fibonacci" Sequence
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Explore patterning and algebra through the "Fibonacci" sequence - something found again and again in nature and art.
100 Frame Bingo
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Students will practice arranging place value to compose two-digit numbers in this variation of Bingo.
2025: Create equations resulting in 1 - 100
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Students are challenged to use the digits 2, 0, 2 and 5 only once per equation to create unique expressions for numbers 1 through 100.
99
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In this collaborative game, students try to keep the cumulative total under 99 until the deck runs out.
Adding Up the Number Line
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In this addition and subtraction game players attempt to arrive exactly at 500 on the number line.
Alphabetical Statistics: Part 1
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Using excerpts from books, students predict, collect samples, and compare their findings to make statistical inferences about larger sets of data.
Animal Grid Offline Coding
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Students love this offline coding lesson! They get to be the zookeeper feeding animals.
Area and Perimeter
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Students use the sum of two dice to create the perimeter and area of shapes on a grid.
Astronomy
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There are many ways to start an inquiry. One effective way is to use a story that focuses children’s attention on a specific topic.
Barrier Game
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One student builds a structure and gives instructions to his/her partner to build an identical structure.
Base Ten Block Quick Image
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Students recreate images composed of base ten blocks and calculate the sum of the blocks used.
Beading and Graphing
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For students to sort, classify, and display a variety of concrete objects, collect data, begin to read and describe displays of data, and begin to explore the concept of probability in everyday contexts.
Beat The Odds
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Get students thinking about experimental versus theoretical probability as they try to beat the odds in this board game!
Bigger or Smaller
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Students build an understanding of fraction magnitude and equivalence by predicting whether their card is greater or less than the dealer’s.
Bird Gliders
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Take a peek at what the students learned about flight and how that informed their creative designs!
Birding Field Trip
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Get your students outside and excited about making observations! We suggest a field trip to a location with potential to see a variety of birds, but the school playground is a good spot, too!
Block Party
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Using their spatial skills, students transform and relocate unique shapes on a coordinate grid, attempting to avoid their opponent's pegs.
Box or Not?
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Students sort and classify 2D/3D figures by geometric properties and using spatial language.
Build a Structure from 3 Different Views
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Students learn how to compare and sort 2D/3D images while using positional and directional language.
Building a Graph Together
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Students and their teacher review different components of a graph and build a graph together.
Building Birds Nests
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Students construct their own bird nest made of items they think are good options for a bird's nest.
Building Towers
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Students use a number card to build a Unifix tower and compare to determine whose tower is taller.
Building with the Mind's Eye
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Students visualize and build a figure in their mind's eye. Then they describe it for the class.
Can You Draw This?
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Students are briefly shown a series of designs inside a square and must recreate them from memory.
Can You Make a Square?
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Students use spatial reasoning to create squares using different tangram combinations.
Card Collectors
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Students work in teams to determine the maximum, minimum, mean, median, mode and range of a group of playing cards.
Chain Game
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Students create a product that can be sold/traded on the “world market.” Soon enough, the market changes!!
Circle to Bar Graph
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What is easier to read - a circle graph or a bar graph? Children discover the answer in this lesson.
Climb The Ladder
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Students multiply two-digit whole numbers by one-digit whole numbers and compete to produce the results needed to fill an entire ladder before their opponent.
Closest To
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In this game, students develop place value comprehension, probability, and social-emotional skills.
Code Breakers: Ojibwe Syllabics
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Learn code while using directional language to create Ojibwe syllabics that spell a secret Ojibwe word!
Collect the Shapes
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Children collect 2D shapes on a grid by giving directional instructions and answering questions on shapes attributes.
Comparing Food Prices: Food Insecurity Part 1
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Students use math to explore how explore the factors that influence one’s ability to access food.
Comparing Fractions in Our Favourite Foods
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Students expand their knowledge of fractions by looking at recipes that they bring from home.
Cookie Sheet Symmetry
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For students to describe, sort, classify, and compare two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional figures, and describe the location and movement of objects through investigation.
Copy My Flag
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Students will practice their spatial language as they design and describe their geometric flags to their partner.
Crocodile Bridges
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Students practice composing quantities of 10 using multilink cubes to cross their very own Silibobble Sea.
Cube Challenge
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In this lesson, students work together to build unique structures out of 3, 4, and 5 unifix cubes. Can you build them all?
Cuisenaire Rods
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Students investigate relationships between numbers by comparing the size of cuisenaire rods.
Daily Calendar
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This daily lesson with many small activities gives students the opportunity to practice all five strands of math every day.
Designs and Patterns on Grid
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Students read letter-number coordinates by creating designs and patterns on grid.
Dice Toss
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Students engage in a simple probability experiment that requires dice and mental math strategies.
Dice War
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Players aim to collect all the dice in the game. They roll to get a score, and the highest roll wins all the dice.
Dominoes Parking Lot
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Students are challenged to place dominoes in their corresponding parking spot.
Don't Break the Hex
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Students cover hexagon blocks with pattern blocks in this don't-get-caught-with-blocks-in-your-hand game!
Doubles
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Students organize doubles from 0 to 12 in a way that makes sense to them. This allows them to see number patterns.
Doubling Numbers: Part One
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After reading "Two of Everything," students explore number pattern rules by using a T-Chart to illustrate the relationships between whole numbers.
Doubling Numbers: Part Two
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After reading "Two of Everything," students explore number pattern rules by using a T-Chart to illustrate the relationships between whole numbers.
Doubling Up
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Help children understand exponential growth and doubling with this fun hands-on activity.
Dragon’s Den in the Classroom
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Students use data as evidence to convince a panel of judges that their project will be profitable.
Draw a Structure from 3 Different Views
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Students learn how to draw 2D/3D images while using accurate positional and directional language.
Egyptian Number System
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Students explore the Egyptian Number System through a variety of games including bingo.
Empty Number Line
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Students demonstrate number comphrension using printable number lines. Observe students' misconceptions about number.
Estimate the Weight
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Students use various strategies to make educated estimations of the weight of everyday objects.
Evens and Odds
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A collaborative game encouraging students to recall and demonstrate multiplication facts in order to remove all their game chips before their opponent does it first.
Experimenting with Gravity
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Demonstrate an understanding of forces and how they lead to movement and changes in movement.
Exploration with Balance Scales
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Provide students with an opportunity to learn the use of balance scales in a practical outdoor setting.
Exploring Bird Nests
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Students observe bird nests and discuss which materials are best used in their construction.
Exploring Fractions with a Paper Quilt
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Students create a paper quilt and determine the fraction each colour occupies.
Exploring Infinity
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Initiate an open-ended discussion where students offer ideas and examples of infinity.
Exploring Tangrams
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The history behind tangrams is a great way to explore composition, decomposition and spatial reasoning.
Exploring Water: A Grade 1 Science Inquiry
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Grade One Teacher Zoe Donoahue is leading her students on an inquiry into water and she is sharing the journey with The Robertson Program.
Exploring Water: A Grade 4 Science Inquiry
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Grade Four Teacher Robin Shaw is leading her students on an inquiry into water and she is sharing the journey with The Robertson Program.
Fill Two
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Students practice modelling ones, tens, and hundredths, as they race to fill in a grid.
Find Your Match
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Students collect a matching number pair or two cards that add or subtract to a predetermined sum/difference.
Finding 10s
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Students use their knowledge of addition and multiplication facts to create 10s and multiples of 10.
Finding Geometric Shapes Outside
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Sticks and stones can make two and three-dimensional shapes that students can use to explore geometry in an outdoor setting.
Flip and Ponder
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Students are challenged to create, transform, and compare improper and mixed fractions.
Food Prices in Remote First Nations: Food Insecurity Part 2
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Students compare the average cost of everyday food items found in the Greater Toronto Area with Attawapiskat.
Four's A Winner
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Students must find the products of multiple factors to get four of their chips in a row, on the game board, before their opponent.
Fraction Action
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Get your students in on some fraction action as they strategically create and compare fractions. The player with the most cards is the winner!
Fraction Bump
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In this competitive game, students use equivalent fractions to lock in as many fractions on the game board as possible without getting bumped off!
Fraction Concentration
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Students match equivalent fractions represented as numbers, bar models, circle models, and set models.
Fraction Race
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Estimate, compare, and simplify fractions as students race to place their fraction cards accurately on a number line.
Fraction Sudoku
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Develop skills in fraction recognition, comparison, and logical reasoning. Students practice analyzing patterns and applying problem-solving strategies collaboratively.
Fraction Uncover
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Students race to clear their boards by exchanging and removing tiles, matching symbolic fraction cards with their visual tile representations.
Fraction War
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Students practice comparing values of fractions by considering the fractions’ conceptual properties.
Fraction Wits and Wagers
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The objective of the game is to accurately identify the position of a fraction on a number line.
Fractions on a Number Line
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Students use a number line to understand the relationship between fractions and their equivalent decimal forms.
Further Exploration with Balance Scales
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Students use balance scales to become more familiar with the concepts of weight, balance and measurement.
Garden Patio
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Children explore measurement and geometry and spatial sense through a narrative about a garden patio.
Getting to Know eBird
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Introduce your students to a database of bird information contributed by everyday birders. As your navigate the website, they will encounter bar charts, data regarding habitat, location, population and migration.
Give-N Task
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For young learners. Uses manipulatives to represent number. Observe one-to-one correspondence.
Go Fish
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Using the four basic operations, players take turns asking opponents for cards that will create a target number.
Going for Gold
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Students use three cards to try to get as close to 15 as possible without going over.
Graphs on Paper
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Students practice precise graphing skills by using a graphing package to sort and classify objects.
Gravity
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In an attempt to explore this question and other aspects of Gravity further, students designed and implemented a number of creative experiments.
Growing Patterns
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Through a story about magical snakes, children think about numerical patterns.
Hexagon Card Game
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Students race to completely fill in the outline of a hexagon using different combinations of pattern blocks.
Historical Figures in One Minute
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Students generate and analyze data to reveal issues of power, racial and gender inequality.
Hole-Punch Symmetry
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Students visualize how folded and hole-punched paper will look when unfolded.
How Many Dots Do You See?
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Students use visual pattern/arrangement to develop how to recognize quantity with accuracy and speed.
How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?
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Explore addition, multiplication, data management, and the relationship between size and capacity.
How Many Steps?
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Students quantify distance by walking along a pathway from one location to another wearing pedometers.
How Many? 5-Frame and 10-Frame Inside-Out
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Students develop their spatial structuring of numbers and strengthen their working memory to compose and decompose.
Hypatia
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Students will examine different historical figures in math and be exposed to historical ways of studying astronomy.
Introduction to Graphing
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Children use previous sorting lessons to make a graph, realizing there is a clear way to display data.
Introduction to Patterning
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Students learn to recognize and extend patterns in different contexts, as well as identify features that define a pattern.
Introduction to Venn Diagrams
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Introduce students to one of the essential hallmarks of elementary data management: the Venn Diagram.
Islamic Architecture
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Learn how Islamic artists combine imagination and a geometric framework to create patterns seen around the world.
Ladybug Houses
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Students develop an understanding of numbers by comparing ladybugs inside vs. outside of a house.
Ladybug Patterns
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By using only one kind of material, students are challenged to think about making patterns in a different way.
Last Landing
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Students practice performing reflections and translations, whilst using cardinal directions.
Letters for Environmental Change
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Analyze the immediate and long-term effects of energy and resource use on society and the environment and evaluate options for conserving energy and resources.
Lucky 7s
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In this collaborative game, students create math equations with various mathematical operations to achieve target outcomes.
Magnets
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Children engage in an exploration of magnets, further discovering what items are magnetic and what items are not.
Mahjong
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Using Mahjong tiles, students practice their combinational thinking by creating various sets to win the game.
Making Clocks
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Students explore ways of measuring the passage of time by making their own clock!
Making Sense of Sounds
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Children will understand that both live and recorded sounds make use of vibrations, and be able to describe how a sound makes them feel and identify different qualities of a sound.
Mandala
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Students design and construct a Mandala, while learning about its rich history, to develop numeric pattern skills.
Math Code
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Math Code is a collaborative game that allows students to read, represent, compose and decompose whole numbers in a variety of ways.
Measuring Imprints Outside
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Students make and measure imprints outside and learn how they represent non-standard units of measurement.
Measuring the Circumference of a Tree
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Students use standard units of measurement to measure and compare the circumferences of trees.
Measuring the Depth of Snow
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Snowfall can be a learning opportunity when students measure and compare the depth of the fallen snow each week.
Metris: Multiplication + Tetris
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Using dice, students work collaboratively to determine the length, width and area of a rectangle.
Mini Beasts
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Carol Stephenson, Kindergarten teacher at the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute for Child Study Laboratory School, brings us inside her classroom to share how she fosters inquiry-based learning with her students.
Missing Puzzle Pieces
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Students develop reasoning and discussion skills by identifying the missing piece of a puzzle.
Multilink Cube 3D Quick Image
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Students are presented with 2D images of 3D shapes and recreate them from memory.
Multiple Turnover Game
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Students identify whether their cards contain multiples of a given factor.
Multiplication Mania
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Children work their spatial reasoning and multiplication concepts in this strategic board game.
Name Pattern
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Children identify patterns in their name by using a grid and recognizing the repetition that occurs.
Number Hunt
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Students practice one-to-one correspondence in this fun dice-rolling, bingo-dabbing game!
Number Knowledge Test
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Determine whether a student is at grade level. Measure development over time. Determine instructional strategies.
Number Riddles: Part 1
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A princess in ancient Persia poses a mathematical riddle to eliminate potential suitors. Explore fractions, place value, counting, multiplication and number systems.
Number Riddles: Part 2
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A princess in ancient Persia poses a mathematical riddle to eliminate potential suitors. Explore fractions, place value, counting, multiplication and number systems.
Odds
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Using a probability line, students will make predictions informed by the likelihood of selecting a domino that is greater, equal, or lesser to the one in their hand.
Ojibwe Probability Stick Game
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Learn about probability by guessing how many sticks will remain upright when dropped.
Operation ZERO
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Students challenge one another as they use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to create equations that are equivalent to a target number.
Order Fractions
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Students will explore rational numbers using the cartesian plane in this interactive barrier game.
Origami Math
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Students make connections between mathematics, history and visual arts, through origami.
Pattern Block Challenge
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Students visualize a series of pattern blocks and recreate them from memory.
Pattern Block Coordinates
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Students will explore rational numbers using the cartesian plane in this interactive barrier game.
Pattern Hunt
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Students go on a pattern hunt to look for naturally occurring patterns in their environment.
Patterns in Lakota Star Quilts
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Explore patterning, symmetry, number sense, tessellation and proportional reasoning.
Patterns with Beads
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Children are challenged to make multiple patterns with beads of different sizes, shapes, and colours.
Pentomino Battleship
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Students practice reading letter-number coordinates by playing a battleship game with a partner.
Perimeter Challenge
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Students use square tiles to create various shapes and compare their perimeter lengths.
Perspective Drawing
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In this collaborative activity, students draw an alternative perspective to the one they are shown.
Perspective Taking
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Students learn perspective taking by identifying the top, side, and front view of 3-D figures.
Place Value
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Interview-style. Observe how students comprehend the value of ones, tens, hundreds. Uses manipulatives.
Planning a Party with Estimation: Part 1
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When the entire school shows up to Moira's birthday party, Moira must make quick decisions to feed all her guests! Explore data analysis, estimation, and optimization.
Planning a Party with Estimation: Part 2
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When the entire school shows up to Moira's birthday party, Moira must make quick decisions to feed all her guests! Explore data analysis, estimation, and optimization.
Planting Magic Seeds
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After reading Anno's Magic Seeds, students use algebraic reasoning to record and predict linear and exponential growth patterns.
Playdough Fractions
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Students listen to a math storybook and practice with fractional parts in this classic activity.
Potato Power
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Investigate energy transformation and conservation. Demonstrate an understanding of the various forms and sources of energy and the ways in which energy can be transformed and conserved.
Prime Factor
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Students decompose composite numbers and identify prime factors using factor trees.
Probability PIG
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In this game, students take shots while incrementally increasing their distance from the net.
Proportions
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Students measure length and area through focused exploration in this guided activity.
Pumpkin Math: Part 1
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A 2-part lesson exploring the relationship between a pumpkin's circumference, height, and weight.
Pythagorean Theorem
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In these series of investigations, students explore and deepen their understanding of the Pythagorean Theorem.
Roll and Build Bingo
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Students practice reading and representing numbers through a fun bingo game.
Roll ‘n’ Code
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In this introduction to coding, students challenge a classmate to recreate a set of coloured squares based on their unique code.
Salmon Inquiry: A Grade 2 Science Exploration
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Raadiyah Nazeem is leading her students on an inquiry into salmon and she is sharing the journey with The Robertson Program.
Salute
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This 3-player card game reinforces student's understanding of the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction.
Same Change
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Students develop financial literacy by creating different coin combinations with the same total sum.
Scaling Recipes: Adding and Multiplying Fractions
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Children understand that fractions are comprised of a numerator and a denominator and can explain the relationship between the two parts.
Scrambled Egg Math
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Children shake an egg carton and roll dice to determine whether they will add or subtract.
Secret Shape Code
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Students develop spatial skills by practicing how to describe the location and orientation of different cut-out shapes.
See It, Build It, Check It
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Students recreate 2D and 3D geometric shapes from memory using math manipulatives.
Seeking Sounds in Our Neighbourhood
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Students will learn that sounds travel differently depending on their environment and the materials and surfaces around them.
Set
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Find groups of cards that share or differ in shape, colour and shading to build pattern recognition and reasoning skills.
Shape Name Game
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Students develop the ability to identify and communicate the names of different geometric shapes.
Shape Shifter
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Enhance students spatial sense using grid coordinates, geometric transformations and problem solving.
Shape Transformer
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Students work together to understand transformations as a series of inputs and outputs.
Shut the Box
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In this simple game with cards and dice, student practice constructing and deconstructing numbers one to 12.
Simulating Resource Sharing
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This lesson explores what happens when individuals act only in their best interests to get the greatest number of fish. The simulation will allow students to see the different possibilities of working together to conserve resources.
Skunk
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Using probability, students must choose between locking in their points or gambling for a higher score.
Skyscrapers
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Students build and view a series of skyscrapers from four perspectives, ensuring no two towers in a row or column are the same height.
Smarties Graph
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Every box of Smarties contains a different amount of each colour. Children graph what their box contains.
Solve the Broken Tangram Puzzle (The Warlord's Puzzle)
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Students use seven shapes to complete tangram puzzles. Students work in pairs, using spatial language to explain how to fit all pieces together.
Soroban
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Students learn how to use the Soroban to build number sense and learn about place value.
Sorting Apples
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Students learn to graph using apple slices. They describe their findings using mathematical language.
Sorting Children
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Students organize, compare, contrast, and communicate how to sort and classify their classmates.
Sorting Materials
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Students sort and describe different types of materials, such as little animals, beads, and shapes.
Spatializing Area
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Students use cutout shapes to understand the relationship between size, area and relevant measurements.
Square Moves
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Students transform tiles from one configuration to another, using spatial language to communicate their thinking.
Square Tile Grid Symmetry Quick Image
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Students recreate a series of reflections made of square tiles from memory.
States of Water
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In this multi-part lesson, students investigate the properties of water in its various states.
Story Problems
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Story problems can be used throughout the year to reinforce number sense in a fun and engaging way!
Studying Water - Part 1
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A multi-part lesson integrating math, environmental science, geography, language arts, Indigenous rights, and social justice to explore why First Nation communities disproportionately face boil water advisories, sparking meaningful discussions through mathematics.
Subsides: Do they offset the high cost of Food?: Food Insecurity Part 3
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Students can apply their knowledge of measurement conversion by calculating the cost of an item without the subsidy applied.
Sum of Interior Angles of a Polygon
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In this lesson, students will explore the relationship between the sums of interior angles in different polygons.
Symmetry Game
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Allow children to be creative and practice the basics of symmetry through play with classmates.
Talking Tetris
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Students use directional vocabulary to compose and decompose structures on a grid using various 2D shapes.
Tangram Clan Animals
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Use tangram manipulative pieces to complete a puzzle that creates an image of a clan animal.
Target Number Game
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Students select target numbers and attempt to scoop up that many countable objects.
Terminator
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Using factor trees to determine prime factorization of denominators, students practice creating terminating fractions.
Terrific Transformations
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Students get practice visualizing and manipulating features of quadrilaterals as they compete to modify a shape using as few moves as possible.
The Feeder Project
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Have your students consider these details as they plan a potential bird feeder design. Along the way, they’ll also consider different costs, including construction and food type.
The Plants Around Us
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Students learn about the types and parts of a plant by exploring their natural environment.
The Sounds that Surround Us Inside
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Children can identify and describe a sound’s direction and volume.
Thousands Blackjack
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In this interactive game, students will use rounding and estimating to get as close to 2100 as possible.
Time and Rice: Part 1
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After reading One Grain of Rice, students build equations and conceptualize the value of large numbers before identifying growing patterns.
Time and Rice: Part 2
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After reading One Grain of Rice, students build equations and conceptualize the value of large numbers before identifying growing patterns.
Unifix Counting Towers
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Students get their minds and hands engaged with numeracy while making Unifix Towers.
Unifix Cube Patterns
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Unifix cubes are a great tool to use to explore patterns. In this lesson, children make their own patterns.
Upside Down World
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Students work with unifix cubes to rebuild "buildings" that have been turned upside down!
Using Fractions to Measure Ingredients
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Children practice working with fractions by using cups and tablespoons to measure ingredients.
Using maps and investigating catch rates to understand lobster abundance in Nova Scotia waters
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Once students better understand the species, they can explore the interaction between lobsters and fishers.
Using Names to Explore Graphing
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Integrate literacy and math by exploring the number of letters in each child's name.
Visual Multiplication
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Students learn about a way of visually representing the multiplication of multi-digit whole numbers.
Volume and Displacement of Water
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Students explore displacement in large volumes of water by experimenting on a smaller scale.
We Are the Same
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Students are given a card with an equation, numbers or dots. They must determine who has an equivalent card.
What Colour is Your Iris?
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Students are introduced to graphing by observing the colour of their eye and comparing it to their classmates.
Whole in One
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Students work an assortment of cards from a standard 52 card-deck to create whole fractions through addition.
Women in Mathematics: Sophie Germain and Elasticity
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Learn about celebrated female mathematician Sophie Germain and her incredible work on elasticity.