MLC Bug

The Math Learning Center Blog

Our team offers insights and happenings in elementary math education and the Bridges in Mathematics curriculum. 

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Spring Into Math with MLC Math Apps

It’s spring! The sun is shining, plants are growing, and frogs and bugs abound. At The Math Learning Center, we’ve created some fun activities with springtime themes to help get your math blooming! Like February’s popular Share the Math Love celebration, each of the following activities includes the Share Your Work feature. You can send students a link or code to access the activity, and students...
Kim Markworth, Director of Content Development

Introducing Bridges Breakout: Number Rack

The number rack helps build the bridge from counting to computational fluency by inviting students to think about numbers in groups of 2, 5, and 10. Its 2 rows of 5 red and 5 white movable beads allow students to see and slide beads in groups rather than 1 by 1. Just as we want students to move from sounding out words letter by letter to reading morphemes and whole words, we want students to move...
Shelly Scheafer

Manistee Chooses Bridges After Visiting Bridges Schools

Manistee Area Public Schools’ board approved a purchase of Bridges in Mathematics after lead teachers visited Montague Area Public Schools as well as Godfrey-Lee Schools in Wyoming to see Bridges in implementation. “Through those visits, those lead teachers really felt like we needed to move forward in this direction and they shared that with their colleagues,” said MAPS curriculum director Amber...

Bridges = Fun + Success in State College, PA

Students in the State College Area School District (SCASD) are exploring math in a fun, new way since adopting Bridges in Mathematics for the 2018–19 school year. But it’s not just fun and games—learning is happening too. On average, student test scores are up by 10% compared with any year since 2011. “We’re really pumped up,” Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education Vern Bock says. “What...
Collin Nelson

Study Shows Bridges Students Perform Well

SEG Measurement, an independent third-party research firm, recently conducted a study of the effectiveness of Bridges in Mathematics using data from the 2015–16 and 2016–17 school years. Approximately 1,000 students from over 40 classrooms participated in the study. Students who used Bridges were statistically matched with students using another elementary mathematics curriculum in a different...
Collin Nelson

The Fourth R

The 3Rs—Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic—have been foundational in education for thousands of years. My recent book, The Fourth R , adds to that list Reasoning/computational thinking. It concerns using human brains and computer brains, individually and working together, to solve problems and accomplish thoughts. Like each of the traditional 3Rs, computational thinking is both a discipline of study...
David Moursund

Bridges Achieves Highest EdReports Rating

Bridges in Mathematics Second Edition was evaluated by EdReports and met all three major criteria at each grade level. This places Bridges among the very few programs that have achieved the organization’s highest rating. EdReports is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing educators with a trusted resource for independent reviews of classroom curricula. Their rigorous process evaluates how...
Collin Nelson

Review Finds Bridges 100% Aligned to CCSS

Learning List , a K-12 instructional materials evaluation service, recently released independent alignment reports and an editorial review of Bridges in Mathematics second edition. Each grade level K-5 was found to address 100% of the Common Core State Standards. Number Corner second edition was also reviewed. Grades K-5 were found to address on average 95% of the Common Core State Standards...

Number Corner Aligns

Learning List , a K-12 instructional materials evaluation service, recently released independent alignment reports and an editorial review of Number Corner second edition. Grades K-5 were found to address on average 95% of the Common Core State Standards. Correlations to the Texas state standards (TEKS) are also available from MLC and Learning List. "The objective third-party reviews offered by...
Jami Smith

The Array Model: Multiplication and Division

The array model, used throughout Bridges, is the subject of “Arrays, Multiplication and Division” by Jennie Pennant from nrich.maths.org. The piece outlines how the array model supports development of a sense of multiplicative relationships and describes how to move students from building multiplication facts and tables to exploring division as the inverse operation of multiplication. The author...
Jami Smith