Math - Marcy Cook

I'd like to introduce one of my favorite Math folks to know:  Marcy Cook.  I first learned of Marcy's expertise when I read Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire:  The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56 by Rafe Esquith.  If you haven't read it, I highly recommend doing so!  Rafe provides a seemingly endless list of resources and options to consider for classroom curriculum and enrichment as well as heartwarming inspiration for teachers across all types of classrooms, especially those in low socioeconomic environments.

I followed Rafe Esquith's lead over to Marcy Cook's website where I was blown away at the many options Marcy has created for students in all areas of mathematics.  I am especially fond of her Tiling Tasks for students in preschool through 8th grade.  The Tiling Task packets contain 20 separate task cards that teachers can assign for students to complete.  The task cards provide:

• dynamic independent or group learning opportunities
• ability for teacher to differentiate learning within a varied-ability classroom
• opportunity for extension and enrichment 

(Image from marcycookmath.com - "Algebra Exploring Tiles")

The tiling tasks are affordable ($15 for a set of 20 cards) and easy to use because they come with tracking sheets, suggestions, and answer sheets.  Marcy ranks the Tiling Task packets on a "challenge scale" of 1 - 3 where 1 offers specific solutions, 2 offers some probing, and 3 offers more open-ended and challenging problems.  Each student will need a set of numbers 0 - 9.  Marcy sells Quiet Number Tiles for $1.00 but students could make a set of their own numbers on cardstock which could be stored in a zip top baggie in their desks.

I have had great success with Marcy Cook's Tiling Tasks in my classrooms and tutoring sessions.  I found it very useful to have a class set of cookie sheets (available at Dollar Tree) so students can have their Tiling Task cards and Quiet Number Tiles spread out for use both during class time and when they have extra time available (the whole cookie sheet can slide under their chair or be moved to a storage shelf when they aren't actively working but haven't yet finished a particular Tiling Task.)  I've used the Tiling Tasks as a "warm up" for a tutoring session, as a dynamic portion of standards-based math curriculum, as an enrichment activity for accelerated learners, and as remediation for low-level math students.  

Read more about Marcy Cook here, and find out more about her upcoming math seminars (including the option of course credit for teacher professional development) here.