Diving Deeper with Upper Elementary Math: Low-Prep, High-Reward Challenging Math Enrichment Activities, Grades 3-5

Diving Deeper with Upper Elementary Math is a must-have tool for teachers who find that, despite all their best differentiation efforts, there always seem to be a few students who consistently need more challenge than is provided by the curriculum. These easy-to-implement, low-prep, high-reward supplemental activities and mini-units will challenge your advanced students to develop a deeper understanding of and passion for mathematics. Rather than encouraging the speed, quick computations, and superficial thinking that often accompany acceleration, these enrichment activities dive deeply into grade-level math content with the aim of not merely keeping these students occupied but also enriching their understanding of important mathematics. These problems require time, careful thinking, productive struggle and perseverance from your students.

Grouped by grade level and standards aligned, this book is your secret weapon to balancing your time between students who need a little extra help and students who need extra challenge in your upper elementary math classroom.

Ramsey Merritt is the Director of Leadership Development for Reading (MA) Public Schools and a Lecturer in Education at Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. He has taught and coached mathematics at every level of the U.S. school system, in both public and independent schools from New York to California. Ramsey also runs an education consulting firm, Instructional Success Partners, LLC, which is focused on instructional leadership and has partnered with districts big and small, state departments, and national non-profits.

Jon R. Star is a Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is an educational psychologist who studies children’s learning of mathematics in middle and high school, particularly algebra. In addition to his teaching and research responsibilities at Harvard, Star also teaches mathematics at a local middle school.