Message From Marian

Dear Friends,

Sadly, this will be our last issue, at least for a while. I really hope you have enjoyed what we have provided in M Magazine for you over the last three years.
to our last issue of.

We are closing out by revisiting some of our favourite pieces.

For this issue’s feature interview, I had an opportunity to interview a colleague I’ve known for years, Patrick Vennebush. He is insightful and funny and gives us some good ideas to think about in terms of what makes for worthwhile problems for our students.

We are sharing, again, a feature article about scaffolding as we teach. I have strong feelings about how we sometimes over-scaffold and about how we can use probing questions, rather than telling, to assist students who need our help.

You might enjoy our Books We Love piece, where we talk about how to effectively use the book 10 Little Squirrels, written by Jack Booth and illustrated by Brandon Koepke, for younger students.

Our Things We Love section this month examines using simple tricks to make students curious about algebra and place value, some of which involve visuals and manipulatives.

We talk about visualization, as well, in our What’s This? video. It is hard to underestimate how important visualization is in mathematics at all grade levels. Examples from different grade levels are provided.

Ask Marian questions and responses discuss exit tickets, cyclical teaching of math concepts, helping students move toward a focus on process rather than answers, and how we can help ESL students with substantial questions.

Our “How-to Video” this month focuses on data, and in particular, on an interesting way to calculate the mean of a set of data more efficiently.

The Shareables in this issue feature a number of activities for each grade band involving different strands, including number, pattern, and financial literacy.

My favourite part of this magazine has been the M Live! videos since I feel like I’m really talking to you. This issue’s Let’s Dig In videos focus on what the big ideas in measurement actually are. I think this is essential to address because measurement is such an important strand at all grade levels.

The Open Questions in this issue focus on number and data.

I wish you a wonderful summer. Feel free to reach out to me or to Rubicon any time!