Contrat and shrink. Notice your muscles tighten and the shortness of your breath. A sense of being cramped, scaled-down, and claustrophobic. Where is this going?!? Who wants to sign up for this? These adjectives do not describe our ideal consciousness! Yet, they DO tell of many children’s experiences concerning math!

How about a more expansive, FREE-RANGING mathematical option?

Today’s lesson, EXPANDED NOTATION,

is the number-stretch that helps our kids let loose with figures. Let’s expand our minds.

But first, Balloons!

And slinkies! And don’t forget the money! That’s right, Balloons, slinkies, and hundred dollar bills. A trio of examples, plus visuals and precise mathematical language, join forces to explain what is happening “inside of” a number, what a number’s worth, and the “degree to which something is useful.”

Expand on that.

Let’s move on from narrow-mindedness with numbers and let our kids loose in the diverse and broad land of math visuals, subitizing (patterns), slinkies, and balloons! This is free-range mathematics!

Our students are strong, capable learners whose differences are strengths and not deficits. They learn differently, but they are still MADE FOR MATH.

Related: Subtracting with expanded form 

So go ahead and download today’s FREE printable, include your child, and click “Play” on this expanded notation math lesson, ballooning their math confidence!

MFM Authors