If you are reading this blog article then you are probably searching for a creative approach to teaching place value. I should note that not all teaching opportunities need to start with major prep and stress. We as teachers need to simplify where we can. Right?

Well, I truly believe that is so, but also feel that we need to add a little spice to our lessons. This is one thing I strive to do and hope that you do as well. I have set out to make learning more fun and I hope you stick around to see one of the things that I developed to practice, reinforce, use for intervention, or to simply compliment your already awesome place value lesson.

I know place value charts are nothing new to place value lessons. My intention is not to claim I created place value charts. I have created place value charts that your students will adore and have fun using as well.

The phone/tablet theme will draw them in and boost morale. Your students (kiddos if you teach homeschool) will most likely beg you to use these. You will have to tell them that they have to wait for multiplication so you can whip out the matching multiplication charts.

What is place value and why do we teach p.v.? Place value is the idea that a number represents a value depending on its location. The reason we teach place value is to help students with things like rounding, regrouping, and addition and subtraction. 

The nutshell version - you will not give your students a good math foundation without implementing strong place value knowledge.

Although this blog post is not to teach you specifically about place value, I want to provide a little background knowledge so you will understand the importance of making your students' learning experience memorable.

Click the pictures above to be sent directly to each product. Also, below are some pictures that have been linked to each product.

You can also find my Teachers Pay Teachers store through my SHOP menu tab.

Since you stuck around until the end, I thought I would tell you about the bundle. It has all four games! Click on the picture above and you can find it for $10! Or go here.

Pumpkin Spice is in the air and so is the chanting of math facts. As teachers and homeschoolers we are always looking for fun affordable ways to add quality resources to our teacher arsenal.

If so, you have clicked on the right blog post. What's so GREAT about these games? I have composed a list:

• These games are SUPER simple to prep!
• Plus, they are easy to differentiate.
• Candy corn colored multiplication charts are included.
• The games come in 1-10 fact practice or 1-12 facts.
• They are SUPER affordable!
• You can buy in a bundle and SAVE!

Read more about the games below.

You can click on the pictures above OR they are available for purchase in my Teacher's Pay Teachers store Raven R Cruz. I have several multiplication resources in my store so check them out!

I remember starting my journey on Teachers pay Teachers a few years back. It was 2012 and there were virtually no videos to help me on my journey. Plus, I live where you can't get internet. I'm serious... country girl problems. They are trying to put in fiber optics - $140 for 1G - per month. No thanks, that's snail speed, I'll just try to keep using my cell phone as a spotless hot spot. NOT THE POINT!

My point is, I want to help you be the most efficient, tpt'er/teacherpreneur/entrepreneur/teacher author... Well, you get it right. I want to help you START OFF being successful. I don't want you to have as many tears as I did and still kinda do. So, in the video below I show you how to make square thumbnails for Teachers Pay Teachers.

The website I use to create my thumbnails is canva.com (not an affiliate). The video takes you through all the steps because honestly, pictures of how to do it will probably not help, I would watch the video. 

Anyhoo, below is a list of the reasons I use Canva to give you an idea if you are a scanner and don't like videos.

• It is easier to access your pictures.
• You can see your pictures better, meaning they are all right there in your dashboard.
• Pictures be can stored directly in Canva and don't need external storage or computer storage space.
• You can download as pdf, png, transparent png, and jpg.
• It is super easy to change a photo size.
• You can edit your photo directly in Canva and don't have to edit before inserting it in to a thumb. 

There are a few things Canva can't do that your other software's can. Below is a short list of a few notable things.

• It doesn't do shadows or text effects.
• You can't put color in text with text effects. The text has to be all one color, no cool outlines.
• You need an internet connection so you can't do it offline.

Thanks for sticking around to the end of the post! Since you did check out on of my freebies.

Multiplication and division can be tough! I honestly wish I would have known about multiplication and division centers for 3rd grade sooner! My first few years teaching, I struggled finding quality resources to teach multiplication and division fluency. Teachers Pay Teachers was in the early stages and I found a few free resources to implement.

I gave my students timed test Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! I am not dogging on timed tests, merely stating my lack of preparedness for teaching math. Also, I was provided a set of workbooks and textbooks that had a copyright date of 1997. Yeah, my first year teaching was in 2012, so you do the math.

There are two things that I learned about later that truly would have helped me provide a more quality education to my math students in my first two years of teaching. I am SUPER embarrassed to admit what I just shared, but I truly did not know any better.

Which leads me to the two things I wish I would have know about my first year teaching; math centers and guided math. These two things would have CHANGED my math teacher world! 

At the current time I have not made any of my own guided math resources, but I have been working on things to use for math centers.

How I Changed My Math Game

As teachers and home educators it is important to find effective and engaging ways to reinforce multiplication and division fluency outside of timed-worksheets. Math centers are a great way to make multiplication engaging and start building number sense early.

Math centers and math rotations are a type of independent practice with a game, technology, activity, or set of task cards. During this time students have a chance to apply the skills and strategies that they learn during guided practice.

Most teachers are probably familiar with math centers and how to implement them in their classrooms. However, new teachers and home educators that I know don't tend to understand what they are (with the exclusion of a few, especially former teachers).

For that reason, my goal is to encourage more new teachers and home educators to start using math centers in their classroom/home. Also, to provide both teachers and home educators an original and creative multiplication and division resource to use in their math centers. Well, that and offer a few ideas on cute storage ideas. You know, that need to organize is in all of us. It's just an educator thing!

Multiplication and Division Task Cards EVERYWHERE!

Here, let me give you an overview of what is included in my Operations and Algebraic Thinking Mega Bundle for 3rd-Grade. You can read more about the standards here.

What Comes in the Multiplication and Division Mega Bundle?

Operations and Algebraic Thinking Mega Bundle

• Strategies of Multiplication Flip Book
• Multiplication Fact Trackers 
• Phone-themed Multiplication Charts Task Cards
• Equal Groups & Multiplication Task Cards
• Arrays & Multiplication  Task Cards
• Repeated Addition & Multiplication  Task Cards
• Skip Counting & Multiplication Task Cards
• Using Number & Multiplication Lines Task Cards
• Multiplication Fluency Task Cards 1-10 or 1-12
• Multiplication Fluency Flip Book Facts 1-10
• Interpreting Whole Number Quotients Task Cards
• Multiplication Within 100 Word Problems Task Cards
• Determining Unknown Whole Numbers in Multiplication and Division Task Cards
• Arithmetic Patterns Task Cards
• Properties of Multiplication Flip Book
• Properties of Multiplication Interactive Notebook & Task Cards
• Division of Unknown Factors Task Cards
• Fact Families Task Cards
• Division Fluency Task Cards
• C.U.B.E.S. Math Strategy Flip Book
• Multiplication and Divide Within 100 Task Cards
• Two-Step Word Problems and Equations Task Cards
• Identifying Arithmetic Patterns Task Cards
• Multiplication Wheel Task Card
• Division Quotient Maze Task Cards
• School-themed Multiplication Color-by-Number Task Cards
• School-themed Division Color-by-Number Task Cards

What Objectives do the Task Cards Cover?

Represent and solve problems involving multiplication and division.

• Interpreting products of whole numbers.
• Interpreting whole-number quotients of whole numbers.
• Using multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems in situations involving equal groups, arrays, and measurement quantities.
• Determining the unknown whole number in a multiplication or division equation relating three whole numbers.

Understand properties of multiplication and the relationship between multiplication and division.

• Applying properties of operations as strategies to multiply and divide.
• Understanding division as an unknown-factor problem.

Multiply and divide within 100.

• Fluently multiplying and dividing within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division.

Solve problems involving the four operations, and identify and explain patterns in arithmetic.

• Solving two-step word problems using the four operations. 
• Identifying arithmetic patterns, and explaining them using properties of operations. 

Last, if you are interested in multiplication and division, you will also like this article.

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Are you a classroom teacher, admistrator, or homeschooling family that needs an effective report cards for your record keeping purposes? I know that I am, and I hate paying for one each year. 

Well, one day I decided to do something about my expensive report card angst and MADE SOME!

They don't have to specifically be used in homeschool, they can be used for classroom purposes too.

There are 2 designs for each school level; Elementary, Middle, and High School.

Click on the pictures below to visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store and grab your set! You can use them through your child's entire school experience. 

They are $6 for the set. If you add up how much I have spent on them over the past few years, you will save around $70 after purchasing these!

It is important to save money when you are homeschooling, it gets expensive.

• Put card-stock in your printer
• Print the first side.
• Feed the paper back through by laying it in the tray print side up EXACTLY the way it came out of the printer.
• Fold down the middle after printing.

I remember when I was required to memorize the 50 U.S. states. I was in sixth grade. Our class did boring worksheets and had to practice memorizing the locations and capitals of each state. It was SO boring! Plus, I don't remember anything that I learned. 

Engage with QR Codes

Well, the fact that you are reading this article means you care enough not to inflict your students with the boredom I suffered. So if you are you searching for a fun and engaging United States Geography lesson for you class or homeschool, you came to the right post.

To make your students' learning more engaging and fun I have created fun task cards to help you students and children learn about the 50 U.S. States. The task cards have a significant QR code on each sending your student to an interactive website to learn more about each state. They can even check most of their answers on that site.

I don't think I need to stress how important it is not to bore your students. What are you waiting for? Grab these cards and add them to your curriculum today! 

Task cards are a great way to reinforce and assess your students. With the addition of the QR codes, these task cards add an interactive quality to further engage your students. As teachers and homeschoolers we all know that interactive and engaging lessons are a must-have in our teaching. Students easily get bored, as did I like I mentioned before so we have to strive as teachers to find something that is interactive and engaging

Don't Take My Word, Take Theirs