Math Helpers

Featuring four coaches Estella Explainer, Chef Math Bear, How to Hound, & Visual Vicuna who offer reading, computation, strategy, and visual strategies for solving math problems.

Estella Explainer

"I help children understand the language and meaning of questions using kid-friendly vocabulary."

Chef Math Bear

"I provide computational strategies (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) for solving problems."

How-to-Hound

"I present strategic thinking clues (rounding, estimation, elimination of wrong answers)."

Visual Vicuna

"I offer ways to see problems and their solutions using animations, pictures, charts and graphs."

Math Standards Based

Usable Math aims to teach mathematics concepts and problem solving skills based on the Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Framework and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.

Open Education Resource

Usable Math is an open education resource project developed in the College of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst. An initial version called 4mality was developed with funding support from the Verizon Foundation and a grant from the US Department of Education, Institute of Education (IES).

Fractions

Grade: 4

Total problems: 9

Measurements

COMING SOON

Decimals

COMING SOON

Geometry

COMING SOON

More coming soon!

Sharon Edwards

Department of Teacher Education & Curriculum Studies

College of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Sharon A. Edwards (she/her) is a clinical faculty in the Department of Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies in the College of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Retired from public school teaching, she taught primary grades for 32 years at the Mark’s Meadow Demonstration Laboratory School, a public laboratory school in Amherst, Massachusetts. Sharon was the inaugural recipient of the national Good Neighbor Award for Innovation and Excellence in Education given by the State Farm Insurance Companies and the National Council of Teachers of English for her work with young children’s writing. She is the co-author of three books including Kids Have All the Write Stuff, Transforming Learning with New Technologies, Ways of Writing with Young Children.

Robert W. Maloy

Department of Teacher Education & Curriculum Studies

College of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Robert W. Maloy (he/him) is a senior lecturer in the Department of Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies in the College of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Sai Gattupalli

Department of Teacher Education & Curriculum Studies

College of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Sai Gattupalli (he/him) is a Learning Sciences doctoral student in the College of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His research interests are broadly focused on learner culture, learning through game play and game design. More specifically, Sai focuses on cultural contexts and its influences on K12 Computational Thinking skills in the developing nations, with regard to socio-cultural and embodied learning theories. Through his researches, he hope to translate this research agenda into educational policy, focused on benefiting developing nations' STEM educational systems.

Sara Shea

Department of Teacher Education & Curriculum Studies

College of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Sara Shea (she/her) is a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is currently part of the university’s Collaborative Teacher Education Pathway program, working towards earning her master’s degree in elementary education.