The 12 Most Popular Math Strategies and Downloads

12 most popular posts blog post image

Over the past 5 years, this blog has seen nearly 3.1 million views.  The most popular strategies from the blog all have one thing in common:  They include downloadable resources and strategies which can be immediately used in the classroom.  They are also free!  I’m sometimes asked these two questions:

“Which are the most popular strategies and downloads?”

“Is there a way you could put them in one place?”

12 most popular posts blog post image

 

Here they are.

 

Part 1:  The Quick List for Easy Access

(See Part 2 for a Deeper Dive.)

 

  1. Splat!

Splat Image

 

  1. Esti-Mysteries: Estimation Meets Math Mysteries

 

EM Clue 2

 

  1. 51 Esti-Mysteries

Esti Mystery Feature Pic

 

  1. The Fraction Splat! Series

Slide2

 

  1. 20 Days of Number Sense and Rich Math Talk (K-12)

20 DAYS blog pic

 

  1. Splat for Google Slides – 40 Lessons

Splat for Google Slides Pic

 

  1. 100 Subitizing Slides and 10 Challenge Patterns

100 Subitizing Slides Blog Pic

 

  1. Cube Conversations – and the follow-up post 80 Printable Cube Conversations Pages and 4 Instructional Strategies

CC Level 6 80 Printable Image 2

 

  1. The Estimation Clipboard

Bundle 2 Pic

 

  1. The Maze Hundreds Chart – and also the post that followed, Strategies for Using the Maze Hundreds Chart

Maze Hundreds Chart Pic

Maze Strategy Pic

  1. The Animated Multiplication Table

single multiplication page

 

  1. Tiled Area Questions  – and the accompanying 3 Powerful Tile Strategies (and 40 New Downloadable Pages).Also note:  Primary Tile Questions is part of this series.

 

Slide1 Tiled Area Question Pic

 

 

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Part 2:  A Deeper Dive

More detailed information – AND PICTURES – can be found in Part 2.

 

Splat!

Two years ago – nearly to the day – I posted the first Splat! lesson.  Since that time, I’ve posted 21 levels on the blog through various posts.  The sequence of lessons ranging from very small numbers through algebraic reasoning with multiple variables has proven to be the single most popular concept.  There are other versions of Splat! that I have yet to share.  Among them, Splat! in Motion and the Rare, Rogue, Red Splat! are in the wings and I look forward to sharing them!

 

Esti-Mysteries: Estimation Meets Math Mysteries

This concept has been really fun to share.  Estimation and a wide range of math concepts are fused together in a very invitational format.  The first time you use Esti-Mysteries, you may be amazed at how deep the conversation goes – and at how loud the cheering becomes when you reach The Reveal at the very end of the journey.  Your students will ask you for another Esti-Mystery right away.

 

51 Esti-Mysteries

If it looks like I posted the same thing twice, that’s because the original Esti-Mystery post only had 12 Esti-Mysteries.  I received so many requests for more Esti-Mysteries, that I decided to write 51 more during the first few months of this school year.  I planned to post 3 per week for 17 weeks in a row.  The result is that there are a LOT of Esti-Mysteries suitable for many grade levels that can be immediately downloaded and used in class.

 

The Fraction Splat! Series

The Fraction Splat! Series is one of my favorite resources.  Following Splat! the fraction series dives into some much deeper territory and invites students to think about numbers in many different ways.

 

20 Days of Number Sense and Rich Math Talk (K-12)

The purpose of this series was to create a set of resources that any teacher – at any grade level – could use for 20 days in a row.  It’s mean to provide rich experiences to students and a rich journey for teachers.  While the series contains entirely exclusive content, it draws upon 4 routines found in my blog.  Days 1-5 are Estimation Clipboards.  Days 6-10 are Splats!  Days 11-15 are Esti-Mysteries.  Days 16-20 are Cube Conversations.  Each of the 20 days is labeled so that it is very easy to find which grade level to use.  Any teacher at any grade level can use this single post to have access to 20 days of rich math discourse – and may even discover a new part of their teaching journey just by listening to the insights of the students.

 

Splat for Google Slides – 40 Lessons

After writing Splat! I heard from many educators who do not have access to PowerPoint.  So, I rewrote the series from scratch with a new combination of animations that would make it work in Google Slides.  This set is for everyone who has Google Slides and wants to use Splat!

 

100 Subitizing Slides and 10 Challenge Patterns

This is an all-time favorite resource.  The concept is a set of 10 lessons.  Each lessons shows a series of quick subitizing images (which also energizes the classroom) then quickly transitions to a challenge dot pattern.  It’s more than subitizing, and it’s more than a dot talk.  It’s the combination of the two that make this work so well.  The 100 slides are set in 10 lessons and there are printables to match the challenge patterns.

 

Cube Conversations – and the follow-up post 80 Printable Cube Conversations Pages and 4 Instructional Strategies

Cube Conversations is a series in which I feature a 3-D cube structure and then (with a click) allow you to show your students how it could be decomposed usefully.  The shape changes colors and surprising groupings appear.  Then, with two more clicks, two more examples of how the shape can be decomposed appear before the students.  Many of the recognize similarities to how they have decomposed it already.  The animations serve as an example as 1 more shape appears and allows the students to decompose it 4 different ways.  This is one that you really have to see and experience to detect the full power of how it propels student insights.

 

The Estimation Clipboard

Estimation has always been near and dear to me.  Yet, I’ve seen so many, many times when students are given ONE thing to estimate (1 jar, 1 image, 1 length of rope) and then they move on to something completely different.  The Estimation Clipboard offers something new in that it provides 4 highly similar images in a row.  Students estimate, share their reasoning with each other, and eventually see the answer…    And then they are given a 2nd image that is similar to the first one.   They have a rich context in which to estimate.  Then they see a third image – and then a fourth.  After you’ve taught your class the Estimation Clipboard routine, you are very likely to hear even more cheering in the classroom.

 

The Maze Hundreds Chart – and also the post that followed, Strategies for Using the Maze Hundreds Chart

This interactive hundreds chart allows you to create mazes on the screen in front of your students.  Better yet, it allows them to amaze you with their thinking.  It’s hard to describe exactly how this chart works without showing it in person – or guiding you to the video.  I encourage you to take a look at the post, watch the video, and see just how this highly versatile chart works.

 

The Animated Multiplication Table

This interactive PPT file allows you to see the multiplication table – and many of the relationships that sometimes stay hidden – in many different, vivid ways.  Take a look at the video, and you will see what I mean.

 

Tiled Area Questions  – and the accompanying 3 Powerful Tile Strategies (and 40 New Downloadable Pages).Also note:  Primary Tile Questions is part of this series.

I was going to make this list show the top 10 pages – but when I saw that one of my all-time favorite strategies wasn’t within the list of the top 10 page views on my blog, I knew it needed to be shared again.  This strategy can travel into so very deep, very rich, and very colorful territory.  I love this strategy so much that I actually wrote 3 blog posts about it.

 

I am certain that this list will change over time.  Some of these posts (like Splat!) have been around for two years, while others (like 51 Esti-Mysteries) have only been around for a handful of months.

 

Thank you for all of your questions and support.  I hope this helps to answer these two questions:

 

“Which are the most popular strategies and downloads?”

and

“Is there a way you could put them in one place?”

 

I look forward to reflecting on this post in the future and seeing how it changes.  There are many new resources which I’m excited to share very soon!

 

All my best,

Steve

 

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12 Comments

  1. Tani Iverson on January 9, 2023 at 11:40 am

    Hi Steve! My teacher partner and I have started the 11 Fraction Splat Series and when it’s time for the answer to be revealed with the transparent Splat, there is no transparent Splat to confirm the answer. That seems to be true of the preceding Splat Fraction series (12, 13, 14 . . .). Did you change the lesson or are we doing something wrong this year?

  2. Leslie on October 6, 2022 at 9:02 am

    hello Steve
    I have followed and used many of your lessons in all the areas. Very cool for the kids and though provoking. Is there any way that the clipboard strings could be put into metric for us Canadians:)?

    thank you

    • Steve Wyborney on October 10, 2022 at 5:52 am

      Hi, Leslie. This is such a great question. I think the quickest way to get a large number of them – when they are shown in inches – would be to multiply the given answer by 2.54 to convert to cm, and then simply type the new number into the slide.

      If you want one that was originally designed in cm, you’ll find one ready to go on Day 5 at this link: https://stevewyborney.com/2019/02/20-days-of-number-sense-rich-math-talk/

      Thanks,
      Steve

  3. Susan Sande on November 28, 2020 at 3:17 pm

    Hi – Just heard of your work on a Math AQ Part 1 course I am taking. I am currently teaching a Grade 5/6 Extended with students ranging in ability from Grade 2 to Grade 7. I had a look at your blog based on input from one of my colleagues and am looking forward to seeing how your approach can facilitate deeper math learning in my students. Most of them lack a strong sense of number and 18 out of the 20 are weak in Math fact fluency. I am hoping that the deeper learning I sense from the resources I have seen so far will help address both.

  4. Heather on November 24, 2020 at 12:32 pm

    Hi Mr. Wyborney!
    I was lucky enough to see you present at the NW Math Conference in Portland, OR a few years ago! I am looking through your most popular resources, and am having a hard time putting my fingers on resources that include decimals or decimal fractions for 3rd and 4th graders. Can you steer me in the right direction?
    THANKS!
    -Heather

    • Steve Wyborney on November 29, 2020 at 4:52 pm

      Hi, Heather. I look forward to the day when we can all return to the NW Math Conference. Thank you for letting me know. I don’t have any resources that are specific to decimals, but for fractions I recommend looking at fraction splat – or if you are using google slides to look at splat for google slides and open the fraction lessons. I hope that is helpful!

  5. Kellie on November 15, 2020 at 6:31 pm

    I am just so grateful for you! Your hard work is making us teachers look like rock stars in front of our students. I am in love with your multiplication course, splat, esti mysteries…well really all of it!

    Thank you,
    Kellie

    • Steve Wyborney on November 16, 2020 at 7:06 pm

      Hi, Kellie! You are certainly welcome. I am so very happy to share, and I’m also really happy that you have discovered the multiplication course!

  6. Mel on February 14, 2020 at 3:46 pm

    My students have been loving Estimysteries and I am looking forward to introducing SPLAT. I am curious though…what would you recommend as a scope and sequence for doing any/all of these activities? I teach 3rd-5th gifted and talented and I keep hopping around with each class but I am sure there is a good progression that is better than my willy nilly a little of this and a little of that. Thanks,

    • Steve Wyborney on March 1, 2020 at 9:05 pm

      Hi, Mel. I post the resources as I travel throughout my journey, so they don’t all fit into a linear sequence. However, one good pathway to follow is found in 20 Days of Number Sense and Rich Math Talk (K-12). If you would like to take a look, you can find it here.

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