We are pleased to announce that we have produced more products to help students.  Our new products are:

1-120 board - First grade students need to know numbers to 120.  This board helps them see what happens when the count goes over 100.  In second grade students need to count to 1000.  Using this board, the teacher and student can look for patterns and identify what happens when numbers go past 100.

1-20 Number Path - Young children should be using a number path not a number line.  This line counts to 20 with one-inch squares that can be used to keep track of counting objects.  This path offers students an understanding of a number line and can transition to the number line in grade 2.

Part/Part/Whole Mat - Research states that the most important  number concept that a child needs to learn is part/part/whole.  With this knowledge, students are able to flexibly work with numbers because they have many ways to see different numbers depending on the situation that they are faced with.  For example:  if a student is adding 8 and 6 and knows that 8 and 2 make 10; then the student can make 6 into parts of 2 and 4 and see 8 and 6 as 10 and 4 or 14.  This is a much better strategy than rote memorization.

Individual Clocks to go with the Time Number Line Board - We felt it was important for each student to have their own clock when learning about time.  The mat provides a context for what the clock means and then the student can show what they know on the individual clocks.

Place and Value mat for Tens and Ones - Grade one students need to develop an understanding of our base-ten system by working with tens and ones.  This board helps the student build the conceptual knowledge by using small ten frames and also base-ten blocks.  

 The number words can be difficult for young children, especially the "teen numbers."  A Teen number is defined as "ten and some more."  So what is eleven and twelve?  In some countries the words actually match the quantity.  China has students saying er for two, shi for ten and shi er for twelve and er shi er for twenty-two.  Compare that with our language and no wonder the United States is a year behind in math at a very early age.  Have your children or students count daily.  

The words of math are important and children need to have what is called "a stable order."  That means that the child can say the numbers in the correct sequence and does it each time. Listen for numbers that are left out and stop and help your child/student so that the error pattern does not continue.

 We launched our Facebook page.  Please visit and "Like" us!

Our first article was:

As school begins, remember to have children talk about math on a daily basis.
Each week, we will write activities that can be done with young children.
Have children count out loud as you are driving in the car or walking home from school or being in the classroom. Have them count starting with different numbers. Listen to hear if the words are in the correct order.
To begin the year:
Prekindergarten- Count up to 10

Kindergarten - Count up to 20. Listen for those tricky numbers from 11-20.

How do you feel about the DMA assessments and interventions?

I am so pleased to have this wonderful tool as a resource in my district.  As a Math Coach and the leader of the Math RtI Committee for our district, I am looking for tools to help identify students who struggle with Mathematics and require Intervention.  Not only does this tool give us the ability to identify these students, but the Intervention Handbook then helps us to know how to remediate these students.  The price is very reasonable, and the materials are all there for me.  I don't have to pull from here and dig around to find what I need!  I have also been told by several of the Intervention Specialists that the DMA is a huge asset in the writing of IEP goals for their Special Education students since it pinpoints areas of improvement for these students.                                                                                                                                                       ~  District Math Coach

 Debra and I have added three new place and value boards to our collection.  

The first mat builds the understanding of  hundreds, tens and ones. This two-sided dry erase mat can be used with our small ten frame pieces found on the CD in the Number Concept Activity Book or base-ten blocks.  This helps the child make the connection with the words, symbol and quantity of numbers in the hundreds.

The second mat builds the understanding of hundredths, tenths and whole numbers.  This mat can stand alone or be combined with the first mat to show how our base-ten system is built.  The two-sided mat has decimals on one side and fractional representation on the other.

The third mat builds the understanding of thousandths, hundredths, tenths and whole numbers.  Again this mat can stand alone or be combined with the first mat to build the understanding of our base-ten system.  The two-sided mat has decimal on one side and fractional representation on the other.

The new Common Core practices require students and teachers to use appropriate materials for students to learn different concepts.  We believe these mats would make a great addition to the classroom.  They help students connect words, symbols and quantity.

Common Core State Standards for Mathematics Workshops

Grade level workshops have been designed for grades K-3.

The workshops begin with an introduction to the eight practices that are to be integrated into the teaching of the grade level content.  The practices are introduced using teacher friendly language and using appropriate grade level examples and activities.  The practices are mentioned and used throughout the workshops. 

All the standards are introduced with examples or activities. 

DMG suggests having a workshop for each grade level since there are new standards at each grade level and not the repetition found in previous standards. We have combined grade one with grade two in the past.  This works but is not as effective as having them alone. There are new things at each grade level and it is difficult to get it all covered.

 At the end of a grade level CCSSM workshop, teachers will know exactly what they are required to teach and they will have activities and resources to use.

Kindergarten

The standards are organized into the framework of word, quantity, symbol, and relationships. The practices are integrated into the content. Four types of situations for addition and subtraction are introduced.

The foundation for place and value is set with learning about the value of teen numbers as ten ones and some more.  First grade is the first time students begin to think of ten ones as one ten.  

Number is the most important topic in kindergarten but there are standards for measurement, data and geometry, these are covered in the workshop. 

First Grade

The workshop covers developing understanding of addition and subtraction, place value, linear measurement and reasoning about attributes of, and composing and decomposing geometric shapes.  Time is spent on developing strategies for learning the basic facts using ten and double ten frames and solving word problems involving situations using mats. Strategies for adding within a hundred will be presented using algorithms based on place value and the empty number line. An eight step method for developing place value concepts will be presented. Resources used are the 99/100 board, grouping materials, small ten frames, place value mats and games.

Second grade

The focus is on extending understanding of place value using an eight step method and hands on resources: 99/100 board, grouping materials, small ten frames, base ten blocks and place and value mats. Another focus is building fluency with addition and subtraction within a hundred and solving problems within 1000 using models such as number lines and pre-grouped materials.

Using standard units of measure and describing and analyzing shapes will be covered.

Third Grade

Focus is on developing understanding of multiplication and division, fractions, and the structure of rectangular arrays and of area, and describing and analyzing two- dimensional figures.

Strategies for learning basic facts for multiplication and division will be introduced along with an algorithm based on place and value.  

The place value steps will be reviewed.  Resources used are base ten models, 99/100 Board, number lines, fraction models, and array models.

Contact us for pricing.  dmg6@mac.com

 Debra and I are off tomorrow to attend the NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) Conference.  We will be both presenting and exhibiting.  We are excited to share our knowledge with other teachers who have a passion to help children in their learning of mathematics.  We will have an e-workshop on Thursday where we will present all of our products to those who attend.  Friday, will be a gallery workshop where teachers will be working with our materials and will have the opportunity to take samples with them.  On Saturday, our focus will be on Place and Value with what we consider to be eight essential steps to helping teach place and value to young students.

If you are in Philadelphia, please stop by our booth (1040) and say hi.  We would love to chat about our assessment and materials we have produced to help the young student and those that struggle with math.