Allyson’s Beginning with Bixby Math
Allyson Rosenbloom is the Math Department Chair/4th-5th Grade Math Teacher. Allyson continues to create a fun and engaging environment for Bixby students! It was August of 2010 when I got…
How Math Explains Our World
Earlier this week I met a Bixby alumna, D, who graduated from Bixby in 1989. 30 years later, she came back to explore Bixby for her own child! It is…
Bixby Math’s DIY Townhouses
I enjoy doing this project most years with my third graders. As I prepare to get it started in the next week or two, I thought it made sense to…
Pi Day with 4th and 5th Graders
Pi Day is a special day in the lives of math students around the world. Just like regular people celebrate Valentine’s Day, July 4th, or National Sandwich Day (Saturday, November…
Making a Game of Math
“Do not keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play.” This quote attributed to Plato describes something that we all understand: Play keeps us working toward something longer…
So What Are Bixby Tiles?
If you haven’t had a chance to play with the Bixby Tiles used in math classrooms around the elementary school, you’re really missing out. They are simple in design, but…
Let’s Build!
As students come down the stairs to Bixby’s lower level, they are entering a space especially designed for kids. There are the lofts, the reading area, ‘the island,’ which houses…
FlashMaster for Math Facts
Math facts are a fact of life for math students. Children in the 4th and 5th grades are expected to know the multiplication facts through 12x12 (and the corresponding division…
Making Sense of Math: Why We Wait to Teach Algorithms
Our mission is to cultivate critical thinking; promote independence and self-confidence; instill empathy, respect and responsibility; and inspire a love of learning. -Bixby Mission Statement As a progressive school, Bixby…
Game Days in 4th & 5th Grade Math
In math we spend every day learning and working. Our units change every few weeks (we are currently studying division). Sometimes students work with a group or a partner, and…
Time For A Snack!
Children work hard in school everyday. Teachers care deeply about academics, but they are also concerned with making sure that students are doing well emotionally, socially and physically. Abraham…
Izze for Izzi
4th and 5th graders have a tradition in math every spring. After spring break, when spring fever is high, it can be difficult to keep students engaged, learning and having…
It’s a Project!
As we approach the end of the school year, we look back on all the experiences we have had together exploring and mastering many skills and concepts. While we…
More on March 14, 3.14, 2016 Pi Day!!!
With so few math holidays, we in the world of math take our pi/pie very seriously! So of course, on 3/14 we ate the delicious pies that our students brought…
∏ Day!
March 14th was Π Day; it was a special one too; 3.1416 is Π rounded to the ten thousandths place! This is certainly something to celebrate. Yet, what do first,…
Area and Perimeter in 4th & 5th Grade Math With Kitty
We began our area and perimeter unit by finding the area of rectangles. For elementary children, rectangles/squares allow students to see how multiplication can be applied to finding the solution.…
YAY BIXBY TILES!
Our founders, Pat and Bart, loved teaching math and focused on finding ways to help kids make sense of numbers. Bart especially loved using tools like graph paper, Cuisenaire rods,…
Money! Money! Money!
Money is a fun, practical and real world manipulative for children to work with. The 4th and 5th graders are lucky in that after the Bixby Bazaar, being the upper…
Dana’s Math Games
We have had a wonderful semester of learning, hard work, and fun! As our beloved Bixby community looks forward to a seventeen day break from school, I thought that it…
Making Fractions Fun and Yummy In Kitty’s Math Class
4th and 5th graders will spend the next 3 weeks learning about fractions. We begin by using the Bixby tile system, a set of 13 different plastic, colored rectangles. The…