Part 4 – New Esti-Mysteries and Number Sense Resources Every Day for the Rest of the School Year
To support fellow educators during this extremely challenging year, I’m posting a brand new, downloadable math resource every day through the end of the school year. The purpose is to provide encouragement, to share a brand new classroom resource every day, and to promote joy in the math classroom.
In the midst of the exhaustion, my hope has always been that this will be a bright spot in your year. I also hope that the joy you hear from your students while you are using these resources will be a beacon of hope in a difficult year. I encourage you to lean in and listen to the math talk, be amazed by your students’ insights, celebrate when you hear the cheering, and feel the wonder and the joy.
I started this effort on November 1, posting a new resource every school day – here is Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 – and I originally planned to continue until May 1. I was committed to posting something new each day for that entire span of 6 months. However, I’ve decided to extend this effort through May 28. Each day, you’ll continue to find a brand new resource that you can download and use in your classroom.
I’m sticking with you until the end of the school year!
Wishing you many moments of mathematical joy!
All my best,
Steve
Mondays – New Estimation Clipboards (All Grade Levels)
Tuesdays – 2 New Esti-Mysteries (1 for kindergarten, and 1 for grades 1-2)
Wednesdays – New Esti-Mystery (grades 1-3)
Thursdays – New Esti-Mystery (grades 3-8)
Fridays – New Mystery Resource – It’s always a surprise, and is always focused on number sense, math talk, and math joy!
Quick Access to This Week’s Resources
I’m posting a new resource every school day – all the way through May 28!
Monday, May 24
Estimation Clipboard 69 (All Grade Levels)
Tuesday, May 25
Kindergarten: Kindergarten Esti-Mystery 28 – “A Magnetic Esti-Mystery”
Grades 1-2: Esti-Mystery 145 – “Stuck Together”
Wednesday, May 26
Grades 1-3: Esti-Mystery 239 – “Many, Many Magnets”
Thursday, May 27
Grades 3-8: Esti-Mystery 344 – “Magnets on the Wire”
Friday, May 28
The Rare Red Splat – Part 6 (All Grade Levels)
5 Challenge Levels. Choose the level(s) that you want to use.
For more information, watch The Rare, Red Splat YouTube video here.
Monday, April 19
Estimation Clipboard 64 (All Grade Levels)
Tuesday, April 20
Kindergarten: Kindergarten Esti-Mystery 23 – “Wow!”
Grades 1-2: Esti-Mystery 140 – “Four Dice Colors”
Wednesday, April 21
Grades 1-3: Esti-Mystery 236 – “The Shy Yellow Die”
Thursday, April 22
Grades 3-8: Esti-Mystery 339 – “A Clue That is Not on a Die”
Friday, April 23
The Rare Red Splat – Part 4 (All Grade Levels) 5 Challenge Levels. Choose the level(s) that you want to use.
For more information, watch The Rare, Red Splat YouTube video here.
Monday, April 26
Estimation Clipboard 65 (All Grade Levels)
Tuesday, April 27
Kindergarten: Kindergarten Esti-Mystery 24 – “I Can See Through the Dice!”
Grades 1-2: Esti-Mystery 141 – “Where is the 6?”
Wednesday, April 28
Grades 1-3: Esti-Mystery 237 – “A Shy Green Die with a 2 and a 4”
Thursday, April 29
Grades 3-8: Esti-Mystery 340 – “A Transparent Challenge”
Friday, April 30
How Many Cubes are in Step 5? – Part 7 (All Grade Levels)
Monday, May 3
Estimation Clipboard 66 (All Grade Levels)
Tuesday, May 4
Kindergarten: Kindergarten Esti-Mystery 25 – “Some Gold Dice”
Grades 1-2: Esti-Mystery 142 – “A Few Gold Dice”
Wednesday, May 5
Grades 1-3: Esti-Mystery 236 – “Four or Five Gold Dice, Maybe Six”
Thursday, May 6
Grades 3-8: Esti-Mystery 341 – “The Blue Dice are the Key”
Friday, May 7
Monday, May 10
Estimation Clipboard 67 (All Grade Levels)
Tuesday, May 11
Kindergarten: Kindergarten Esti-Mystery 26 – “Flying High”
Grades 1-2: Esti-Mystery 143 – “Four Flying Clues”
Wednesday, May 12
Grades 1-3: Esti-Mystery 237 – “Flying Patterns”
Thursday, May 13
Grades 3-8: Esti-Mystery 342 – Altitude
Friday, May 14
Splat Medley #4 (All Grade Levels)
Monday, May 17
Estimation Clipboard 68 (All Grade Levels)
Tuesday, May 18
Kindergarten: Kindergarten Esti-Mystery 27 – “Earplugs”
Grades 1-2: Esti-Mystery 144 – “Thunderclap”
Wednesday, May 19
Grades 1-3: Esti-Mystery 238 – “Sonic Boom”
Thursday, May 20
Grades 3-8: Esti-Mystery 343 – “Thunderclap”
Friday, May 21
All Grade Levels: 10 Subitizing Sets and 1 Challenge Pattern – Part 3
Monday, May 24
Estimation Clipboard 69 (All Grade Levels)
Tuesday, May 25
Kindergarten: Kindergarten Esti-Mystery 28 – “A Magnetic Esti-Mystery”
Grades 1-2: Esti-Mystery 145 – “Stuck Together”
Wednesday, May 26
Grades 1-3: Esti-Mystery 239 – “Many, Many Magnets”
Thursday, May 27
Grades 3-8: Esti-Mystery 344 – “Magnets on the Wire”
Friday, May 28
The Rare Red Splat – Part 6 (All Grade Levels)
5 Challenge Levels. Choose the level(s) that you want to use.
For more information, watch The Rare, Red Splat YouTube video here.
How do you download these awesome activities?
I can’t find a place to click that isn’t an ad.
Hi, Louise. Thanks for the question. To find the download links, look for the blue text that has titles such as “Estimation Clipboard 69” or “Kindergarten Esti-Mystery 28” Typically, it’s just under a date. I hope that helps.
I could not have made it through this year or remote teaching and simultaneous teaching without your esti-mysteries! My students learned so much about math computation, problem solving, estimation, and math vocabulary. Thank you for saving my sanity and reducing my stress!
Hi, Jenny. Thank you for sharing this with me. I’m glad that your students learned so much and that they were helpful.
Thank-you so much for these resources, Steve. I have used them all year with my Grade 3/4 class, and I’m now using them in our online lessons. The students ask for them – it is something that they can all engage with.
P.S. I made my own using money, with the added challenge of finding the value of all the coins.
Hi, Kate. You are certainly welcome. I am so glad that they are helpful, and I love the adaptation you have made!
Thank you for making this available for free. I have been teaching online since October and when I discovered your puzzles it was a game changer. I should be saying this every week so please know that my class thinks of you often. The love the puzzles.
I really appreciate this, Cathy!
Thank you so much for providing these amazing resources all year! My students have loved these activities (in person & remotely), and it is wonderful to see them so engaged.
Hi, Patricia. I’m so happy that they have helped to support student engagement! Thank you for the comment.
I am a Title 1 math teacher and have regularly used both Splat and Esti-mysteries. The students in grades 2-5 who I work with LOVE them; they always ask me for the estimating game. I know that the consistent use of these resources has deepened number sense. Thank you so much for sharing. I appreciate it!
Hi, Peggy. I’m so happy to hear this! Thank you for sharing this with me.
My school eliminated all microsoft products for teachers. Is there anyway to get these in google slides?
Hi, Jamie. Yes, it is very easy to use these in google slides. Simply download the PowerPoint file you want to use. Then save it into your google drive. I often just drag the PPT file into my google drive to do that. Then open it with google slides. To do that, I usually right click it – but I know there are other ways to do it. Then click present. I hope that helps!
I just wanted to say thank you!!! These are awesome! I’m a supply teacher and the teacher had left this for them today, and WOW for being virtual almost ALL of the students participated. Saved them all for future use, they will be fun for time fillers or math talk in the classroom as well as online. THANK YOU for all your hard work!
Hi, Anita. You are certainly welcome. I love hearing about how useful these are and how they promote participation even in a virtual class.
My students are loving these! Thank you so much for sharing!
Mary Ann, you are certainly welcome.
Hi Steve,
My fifth grade class loves your esti-mysteries and they are getting very good at them! We love using them for our math talks. We have even had some students create their own that we have used in class. We have one suggestion that we hope you might consider. Sometimes the amount in the container shocks us. We would love to see one more slide that shows the objects laid out so we can better picture the amount. Thank you so much for making these. We look forward to doing more before our school year ends.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Wood’s 5th Grade Class
Hi, Carrie. I love the suggestion. Thank you for sharing it. Typically when students are surprised by the total, it’s because it’s much more than they expected, rather than much less than they expected. You are doing exactly the right thing by having your students create their own Esti-Mysteries. They will learn so much about the numbers by doing this. Nice going!
I was just wondering if the K-2 Esti-Mysteries had more than 1 answer left after following the 5 clues?
I used the one that you shared yesterday and we were left with 3 numbers. 10, 40, & 100
Esti-Mysteries always have just 1 answers. However, after the final clue there should always be 2 or 3 reasonable choices to discuss. That preserves the opportunity to estimate and the sense of mystery. The final answer is under the red reveal box at the end. When you play through the PowerPoint (or google slide if you save it in google drive and open it that way) the reveal box is on the last slide. If you can’t get the box to disappear, then just slide it out of the way to see the answer underneath it.