Maria's Math News, September 2026

Hello again! I hope those who have started the school year recently are off to a good start!

Math Mammoth news
Online practice: Estimate the Result, Then Calculate Exactly (grades 3-6)
Review: Word Problem Workshop
Math Mammoth Kindergarten manipulative package
Grading students' work in classroom
Just for fun!

1. Math Mammoth news

No big new at this time, everything is calm, cool, and collected. 😀 But here is one testimonial:

I have a degree in Chemistry and Medicine. I love math and pretty much taught it to my 4 boys as they went thru Christian school. Now my grandsons are home schooled. I am teaching math using your books. I am very impressed with the organization, thoroughness, and care to be precise. The books are wonderful. It makes it very easy to teach, and reminds for of all the things I have forgotten. Thanks for providing this resource!

Russ Martin

2. Online practice: Estimate the Result, Then Calculate Exactly

$math problem$

In this new activity, you can practice estimating the result of addition and subtraction problems, and then calculating the exact answer. Use your estimate to check that your final answer is reasonable.

For each question, we provide an interactive grid paper where you can calculate the sums and differences, just like you would using pencil & paper.

To come up with the estimate, you should round the given numbers either to largest place that the numbers have, or to the second largest. For example, if the question has three-digit numbers, round them either to the nearest hundred or to the nearest ten. The script will not tell you how to round, and it will accept estimations based on these different types of rounding as correct.

3. Review: Word Problem Workshop

The following is my review of the book "Word Problem Workshop", which is essentially meant for classroom teachers. The reason I wrote it is because I feel the need to provide resources and support for schools and teachers that are using Math Mammoth.

I feel the Word Problem Workshop routine fits in well with the Math Mammoth curriculum (for classrooms), and is a great idea to help children learn to solve word problems.

Mona Iehl used to teach math like most everyone else: show on the whiteboard how to work a problem, and then let students mimic it. You know... "I do, we do, you do."

But then one day, all that changed. Another teacher, Linda, modeled a lesson in her 3rd grade classroom. That lesson led to a profound realization for Mona as a math teacher, and to a journey that transformed her math teaching approach. She was awakened to the fact that math isn't just about the right answer.

"I realized that math class should be a space where students aren't just following instructions—they should be actively engaging with the material and each other, sharing ideas, discussing solutions, and building a sense of community around learning.

She started to teach differently. Her classroom became a place where students could confidently solve problems, discuss their reasoning, and think deeply about math.

Mona says that her book isn't just a strategy book — it's a movement to change the way we teach math. Word Problem Workshop is a structure, or a process, or a routine within the math classroom that she has taught to many other teachers in her work as a math coach.

What is Word Problem Workshop?

It is a daily twenty-or-so-minute routine during which students solve one or two word problems, and then discuss their approaches to that problem. They collaborate, and actually build a community around learning.

This routine fosters critical thinking, encourages productive struggle, and builds resilience in students. It also aims to create a classroom environment in which students can work together, learn from each other, learn to communicate, and form a community. It helps students become confident, lifelong problem solvers.

$two ways to structure a math class$ The entire workshop can fit into your math block in various ways (see the image), but she recommends doing it very near the beginning.

Read on!

4. Math Mammoth Kindergarten manipulative package

$book cover$

Rainbow Resource Center has put together a manipulative package for Math Mammoth Kindergarten!

I do also provide a list of recommended manipulatives (see this page and scroll down to "manipulatives"), if you prefer to piece it together yourself, but Rainbow's bundle product can make it easier.

5. Grading students' work in a classroom

A teacher from a small school sent in a question that I hope some of you have ideas for! It has to do with grading students' seat work.

I own and run a small Classical Christian school in Arkansas. We switched to Math Mammoth a couple of years ago and have been very pleased with the methodology. For grades K-3 the product works very well in a classroom setting. However, we are struggling with the grades above that. Mostly it is just with work flow. Most other curriculums that we have used switch to a reusable hardbound text from around 3rd or 4th grade. This requires students to copy their work, but it also allows them to have a book with all of the instructions and turn in their seatwork for the teacher to grade. We have tried using workbooks and we have tried printing pages from the digital text. For a teacher a stack of workbooks to take home and grade becomes cumbersome. That also leave students without books for study etc. If we print pages from the digital text, it can become an organizational issue for the students when the pages have been graded and returned. If they don't keep all of their returned work, they don't have pages for studying for tests etc. How are other schools overcoming this issue?

Here are my ideas...

The teacher could take photos of student work every day, and then use an image editing software to mark the errors in the work. Each child would want to write their name at the top or bottom of those pages so the pages can be identified. Perhaps those images can even be sent (at least sometimes) via email to parents - IF parents are helping their children. Or maybe only send an image if the child has lots of trouble. I realize this may take slightly more time. If there is a classroom helper (an older student?), maybe they could do the task of actually taking the photos each day. Also, maybe the grading marks don't need put IN the images, but just to whatever type of organization the teacher is already using (a notebook, a spreadsheet, etc.)
Maybe the children can check their own work at the last 3 minutes of class time, if the answer key is shown on a projector or something. Or have them work with a partner that checks their work at the end of class. (This is not about grading or giving points or percentages... just checking the answers.) Or, maybe have the answer key at the front of the classroom, and once the child is done, they would go check their own answers. If the students' mindsets are such that they want to actually learn (not just earn a grade), they can gradually learn to take responsibility of their own learning, where a teacher won't have to check their work. This would possibly fit better the middle school and maybe upper elementary than lower elementary, but it could still help. The book Building Thinking Classrooms has a chapter about this topic. It has to do with re-inventing homework as "check your understanding questions" which were not checked or graded by teacher at all.
Perhaps the work does not need "graded" or given points/percentages every day? Perhaps assessment can be done in some other manner. What I mean by that is, students would need to know if their work was correct, but do they need points or percentages? That can even lead to viewing math as an activity where the grade is the goal, not the actual learning process.

Then, here are some thoughts one of my followers posted on Facebook:

Marie J
Maybe you could order multiple of her series and some of it is assigned as turn-in homework and they can keep the main book without turning it in. All the topics covered in the grade level books are also in the topical books.

Also, I wouldn’t be turning in full pages of homework or seat work every day. That is unnecessary grading for the teacher and not an accurate reflection of learning since it is their first time doing it on their own. Try something like three problem exit slips at the end of class, or to do right after grading the homework in class and answering questions. I think I called mine daily checkup when I was teaching Alg 1. I just created a half sheet with three problems every day. Super fast grading but a fairly accurate representation of whether I needed to reteach it again the next day.

Any other ideas? You can reply to this email or share your thoughts on my Facebook post.

6. Just for fun!

Thanks for reading! 🙂

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Till next time,
Maria Miller