Sweeten up that Four Letter Word: MATH

Comments 13

• Tracy Martin

  20 Jan

  I don't agree with this.. as the mother of one child with food allergies and one with over weight issues, I don't agree with bribing them with sugar to do math. Instead use beads, legos, or stickers....

  
  

• David

  20 Jan

  I've used M&M when teaching about exponential functions in math, using the "Get a Half-Life" lesson which has been out for ages (not my invention).  It works well, students are happy to "experiment" as they get to finish their experiments.  They'll even be very careful not to lose any of their experiment subjects and clean up after themselves.

  
  

• Heather T.

  20 Jan

  Can you believe we have a kid who doesn't eat candy? Closest we can get is chocolate sauce--but it has to be on ice cream to be eaten. Jiminy creepers. Great idea, though!

  
  

• Cherie'

  21 Jan

  I know that candy isn't good for our children.  However, one of my favorite school memories is learning multiplication in 3rd grade and using M&M's to do so.  We all got so excited about it, because we were allowed to eat a few of them once we completed our lesson.  I learned quickly and absolutely loved it! :)

  
  

• CARRIE JEAN ROSS

  21 Jan

  Thanks for the reminder Tracy.  It's always important to exercise moderation and make sure suggestions are safe for your family. 

  
  

• Kristen

  26 Jan

  Any suggestions on how to do this with fractions?  Thanks

  
  

• CARRIE JEAN ROSS

  29 Jan

  For fractions you could take advantage of the colors of the candy to demonstrate that a fraction is part of a whole.  To demonstrate 1/4 of 8 is 2, lay out 8 red candies on the table, then take away two of the red candies and exchange them for 2 green, then say, "one fourth of the candy is green",  exchange two more green candies and say, "two fourths or one half of the candy is green", and so on. 
  Now have your child demonstrate using the color of their choice.  Lay 4 candies out and ask them to change one fourth to another color, two forths, three fourths, etc.
  
  If you grab a sheet of paper, and draw a large fraction pie on the paper or boxes to divide it into sections, you can lay different numbers of candies down in the sections to show how a group of candies can be divided into fractions. 
  
  As a special treat, some chocolate bars are scored and can be broken into pieces.  Check at your library for a great book called "The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar Fractions Book" by Jerry Pallotta.  You will both have a lot of fun!

  
  

• Susan

  01 Feb

  You have got to be kidding...candy, candy, candy? What percentage of school aged children are obese? How do you expect kids to sit still and learn on a sugar rush? Why not apply the math to real life?  It works for us!

  
  

• Cheyenne Allen

  07 Mar

  MultiGrain Cheerios work just as well & the kids can eat as many as they'd like. That's what we've used. They are different colors & healthier than candy.
  

  
  

• Kristie Norwood

  08 Mar

  We use coins instead of sugar. If i used sugar he wouldn't learn a darn thing.

  
  

• Asiyih pellegrino

  19 Apr

  Maybe you should use things like grapes and plums or even chocolate covered nuts or raisins  or even some cheerios as Cheyenne Allen said . Some kids will be having a healthy snack while learning math,science, and social studies!

  
  

• jasmine

  20 Apr

  Why not use Kelloggs Froot Loops, they have fiber so its great for us.they are different colors just like m&m's and candy. and they are tasty too.

  
  

• Melvina,

  19 Jul

  I agree with Susan, everything.... I have a student with ADHD and mixing sugar with that is a no no!  My question is this, didn't anyone else recieve the math manipulatives with their supplies? I use those, especially the connection blocks.  Work wonders for my son who is a visual learner.

  
  

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