Regular readers know Dad is all about the math worksheets, but that doesn’t mean he’s not interested in blending a little language arts skills into the mix. And that’s exactly what this new series of math word search puzzles is designed to do!

A great deal of learning in math is related to vocabulary, and when new math topics come up a big part of the overload can come in the form of trying to remember all the new terminology that shows up. And beyond that, there’s a real need to learn the correct spelling of all the new words that seems to be quickly overlooked.

Word search puzzles are one way to introduce new math vocabulary and provide a nice transition into learning and applying the new concepts.

The new puzzles cover a number of topic areas, but you’ll also find sets specific to individual grade levels that have a range of Common Core inspire terms appropriate for each age.

Give these new math word search puzzles a try, and watch this space for a big announcement soon… These word searches have been so interesting to build that I’m excited to share exactly how I built them… and how you’ll be able to build some of your own!

As we slide gently into the final weeks of the school year, a familiar math topic surfaced in our current math curriculum… The slope intercept equation and graphing on the coordinate plane. Remember y = mx + b anyone?

Our 4th grader came home with some work on this topic, I think with more of a goal of exposure in preparation of next year’s rigorous treatment of linear equations, but it did remind me that this was a math topic I had wanted to address on the site for some time.

When you’re learning about slopes and intercepts and graphs and coordinate planes, you wind up drawing lots of pictures (and using lots of graph paper), which can get tedious. Especially if your lazy Dad gets a few of the drawings wrong.

That’s where this graphing slope calculator comes to the rescue…

This calculator calculates the equation of a line from the two points you enter. It shows how the slope is calculated, including reducing the rise-over-run fraction and giving a decimal equivalent. There’s also a nice summary on that page of how the calculator finds the y-intercept value once the slope and one of the points is known using the recast of the slope intercept equation as b = y – mx.

You can enter the points or the intercept or the slope and the graph will update in real time… This saves a ton of manual graphing to explain concepts, and lets you move quickly between different graphs to explain things like positive versus negative versus zero slope lines. The interactive experience definitely makes explaining these ideas easier, and I’m sure this would be amazing on a classroom smartboard.

I built this calculator using Vue.js, and it’s the first addition to the site using these tools since I built the Worksheet Connect app last year. I’m hoping to use Vue to rebuild some of the other calculators on the site to make them even snazzier, but meanwhile I hope you’ll check out the Connect app to see if it might help you with some summer math fact practice!

Have a great slide into summer! 🙂

With a 4th grade student under the roof, you can bet we’re spending a lot of time lately talking about fractions, percentages and decimals. And when I say a lot of time, I mean a lot of time.

Fractions are definitely one of those topics that take some time to explain, and the concept of equivalent fractions even more so. Let’s just say trying to explain to a 10 year old how something with completely different numbers, especially ones with many many more digits, might be exactly the same, or even less than a reduced fraction, is not a task for the impatient.

Color me impatient then because my solution to this equivalent fraction conundrum is summed up in this amazing new fraction chart I just whipped up…

This chart shows how the quantity shown by fractions with different denominators relate to each other relative to the number line. This makes all of the equivalent fractions line up neatly, and I’ve shown the decimal equivalents for the most common ones. This has already answered a lot of questions around here and will hopefully save a few more of my remaining hairs.

There are a few different versions of the chart, and because the graphic came out so amazing, I decided to setup poster sized versions as well. Please check them out and let me know what you think in the comments section!

Well lassies and laddies! You may be thinking that a wee bit of luck is all you need to pass those math quizzes bouncing over the rainbow there, but there’s a saying around here this time a year… Luck is only for leprechauns!

For you fine youngsters, Dad has a bit of fun practice that should get you closer to that pot of gold! Or at least a cookie in the class St. Patrick’s Day party. This is the second set of worksheets in my holiday section and if you’re looking for something March-themed, put your green socks on so you don’t get pinched, print a few worksheets out and get to practicing!

There’s more to celebrate this month… Remember that March 14 is Pi Day! (that’s 3/14 for those of you wondering why that date in particular!). If you’re concerned about your wardrobe choices for the day, make sure you check out my 5,000 Digits of Pi shirt over in my math t-shirt store. You’ll definitely win any of those “who has more digits of pi on their shirt” contests around the staff room!

Have a great March! 🙂

Nothing welcomes the coming end of winter like a little chocolate, and with Valentine’s Day right around the corner you’re not likely to be disappointed. But robots aren’t tempted by sweets, and our little mechanical friend above clearly has his heart set on something else… A little math! You can see what he’s excited about by clicking the link here…

These new printables introduce a new type of worksheets… Coloring Pages! I’ve added your basic color-by number variations, but you’ll also find worksheets that cover addition, subtraction, multiplication and division coloring pages that will test math fact skills. But don’t think I’ve neglected more advanced topics! There are pages with multi-digit problems (with and without regrouping where appropriate), long division and more.

Please check them out and if you like them, I hope you’ll share these worksheets with other educators who would find them useful! I’ll be adding more holiday themed worksheets throughout the year, so if you have a special request drop me a note in the comments!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Everybody love’s t-shirts! If you’re looking for something unique for a math teacher gift, or just want to get your math geek on, you should check out Dad’s math t-shirt store… Many of the designs there are my own, but I’ve also dug up the best of the math related shirts available on Amazon. The links to the shirts (whether mine or others) are all affiliate links and your purchase there helps support the site…

Please check it out and let me know if you have any ideas for a math t-shirt in the comments!

Money is one of those math topics that is easy as an adult to take for granted. These money worksheets are here to help! You can see them all at this link…

Money problems can require a number of steps to solve, all of which have be to taught incrementally as students advance through the early grades. These worksheets gradually build these skills, before winding up at the key skill of making change for a purchase transaction. One that involves ice cream and donuts, of course. 😎

A good first step on a student’s monetary skill building journey is identifying coins both by their names and their values. This is a great exercise to start with in Kindergarten or first grade, and the printable money pages can also serve as a coordination activity requiring students to cut out coins and bills for play activities.

The next key skill is counting money to determine the value of a collection of coins or bills or both. Again, a gentle introduction to this skill can involve counting collections consisting of the same type of coins before working up to mixtures of coins of different denominations. This is again a good first grade activity and can be started before students are familiar with decimals. However, the later worksheets in this area deal with sets of coins totaling over a dollar, as well as groups of coins and bills… Those do require some familiarity with decimals and may be more appropriate for second or third grade students.

More difficult money topics including comparing money and making change are definitely second grade topics, and Common Core makes sure these are a priority in most US schools. The money worksheets covering these skills will have your kids covered, and they’re some of the more colorful worksheets I’ve put on the site so far!

If you like these money worksheets, please leave a comment here or even better share them! If you have a blog or website, posting a link is VERY appreciated and helps the site in a huge way. Thank you!

There are never too many ways to practice math facts, and these new circle worksheets are another approach to learning how numbers are related to each other in addition, subtraction, multiplication or division groups!

Each circle collects a set of math facts related to a single number, for example the multiplication worksheets all have a common value, so each circle is essentially a set of multiplication facts. You can go around the circle and solve each fact to help emphasize strategies like skip counting or repeated addition to learn multiplication. Alternatively, some of the worksheets have the facts in a random order around the circle which requires students to think a bit more to solve the whole set.

The addition, subtraction and division worksheets all follow a similar pattern. When you’re working to establish the relationships between similar sets of math facts for these operations, you’ll find these worksheets to be another useful tool, and I hope a visually interesting one as well!

If you have an idea for more worksheets, let me know in the comments. And as always, I appreciate your sharing these (or any other worksheets) with other parents or educators who would find them useful!

I hope your autumn is off to a great start!

Coordinate planes are a staple of linear algebra, and having ready access to printable versions of these tools can be a big help when students are learning how to graph equations. I’ve had a meager collection of printable coordinate planes on the site for some time, but admittedly they’ve fallen into some dis-repair. Converting the older coordinate planes into PDF format and adding new homework templates has been on the to-do list for some time, and I’m pleased to announce they are finally all live on the site.

If you visit the new coordinate plane page you’ll find the not-quite lost single page, 4 quadrant coordinate planes that have lurked in a corner of the graph paper gymnasium for a while, ever hopeful that someone would find them there and ask them out to dance. These lonely grids are now happily socializing with many of their peers, including inch and centimeter dimensioned coordinate planes, planes with quadrant labels, and a new set of coordinate planes that are numbered and dimensioned along the edges of the grid instead of directly on the axis lines.

Also, you’ll find a completely new set of coordinate plane homework templates that are setup for single problem, two problem, four problem or six problem work. Print the size you need depending on how much work space or grid space you need to solve your particular problems, and those homework assignments will look super sharp.

You can check out all of the new pages at the link below, and if you have suggestions for more layouts please leave a comment!

Printable Coordinate Plane Page

Finally, I didn’t want the graph paper page to feel too left out, so I also added dot paper and isometric dot paper to the party there. If you’re looking to do some 3D sketches, the isometric dot paper is a great tool, but either format can also be used for a round of the old ‘dots and boxes’ paper and pencil game that kept me and my girlfriend occupied during 10th grade history lectures…

Ten years ago, I sat down with my oldest daughter who was struggling with her 2nd grade math facts, and I started making practice worksheets using a few Python scripts. When several parents asked me to share those worksheets online, DadsWorksheets.com was born.

Over the course of the last decade, the number of worksheets has grown, and I’ve had the chance to build charts and calculators and games that have all played a role in helping my kids, and hopefully yours, learn math.

There are over 8,000 worksheets now and almost 20 million visitors have stopped by looking for help with multiplication or word problems or Roman numerals or some other math topic, each of which is tied to memories in my basement office with my own kids. It’s been a lot of fun for me, but I am also humbled by how many people have visited. All of your support and encouragement has definitely added to the joy of building DadsWorksheets.

My oldest daughter is entering college at University of Arizona next year, and my youngest daughter is starting 2nd grade, so the cycle in many ways has come full circle. I’m thankful for my four amazing girls, and to all of the people I’ve had a chance to interact with since this site first started, and I’m excited to see what the next ten years brings!