Excel Math: 09/01/2015

Monday, September 21, 2015

Excel Math Is Moving!

Excel Math is moving just down the street, after fifteen years at its present location in Poway.

Our new address as of September 22 will be 12150 Tech Center Drive, still in Poway and just four blocks away. Our new zip code extension will be 92064-7102. All other contact information including phone, email and website address will remain the same.

Come visit our new warehouse on Tech Center Drive, just down the street from the former Excel Math building. Call first, 1-866-866-7026, and we'll have your order ready and waiting!

Our former Excel Math building

We will be posting pictures of our new warehouse on our website over the new few weeks.

Check them out on our Contact Page: www.excelmath.com/contact.html

Here are a few photos of the building on Kirkham Way and our current and past employees, for a bit of nostalgia.

This is the former warehouse loaded with Excel Math materials, ready to ship out to our customers.

Shown below are the shrink-wrapped pallets of Excel Math lessons we receive from our printers.

Shrink-wrapped pallets of Excel Math materials

Excel Math is now available for Common Core Standards, Texas (TEKS aligned—STAAR ready), and our proven Standard Editions.

Celebrating 40 years of service to teachers and students, we now ship to select overseas locations as well as to the continental United States, Hawaii and Alaska.

Customers can order online from our web store:
https://excelmath.myshopify.com/

. . . or give us a call toll free at 1-866-866-7026.

When you call between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday (West Coast time), a helpful person will answer the phone, never a machine!

Graded Excel Math boxes of Student Lesson Sheets

Pictured at right are the boxes of Student Lesson Sheets organized by grade level (note the various colors of labels: Grade 1 is pink, Grade 2 is blue, Grade 3 is Green; Grade 5 is yellow) and ready to ship to you, our favorite customers.

It's not too late to order!

Orders are usually shipped out within a few days so you have your lesson materials when you need them.

Not sure which Excel Math version to use?

Sample packets are available as Free downloads from our web store: https://excelmath.myshopify.com/collections/free-excel-lmath-sample-packets

Although we're moving, we're the same friendly group of people you've come to rely on for proven math materials. Call us today or stop by 12150 Tech Center Drive in Poway. We provide service with a smile!

Excel Math employees with the owners, Brad and Janice

Monday, September 14, 2015

Pumpkin Bulletin Boards for the Math Class

As fall approaches, here are some colorful new bulletin board sets for your math classroom!

Now that school is back in session, bulletin boards can help display information and add a touch of creativity to your classroom.

Even if you start with a basic board or just a wall, you can easily modify it every month or two to reflect the changing seasons and holidays.

You may want to place one of the the bulletin board displays on your classroom door or in the hallway just outside your room so it will catch the children's interest as they enter.

If you don't actually have a bulletin board in your classroom, use part of a wall or the side of a filing cabinet. You can even hang decorations from your ceiling.

Some simple fall bulletin board ideas are shown below. Check back in a month or two for more. Click on the links to download patterns for each bulletin board. Use foam or small pieces of folded cardboard to give a 3-D effect to the displays.

For a tactile board, use cotton balls for clouds, fabric for the backdrop, straw under the pumpkins to form hay bales and textured borders cut from corrugated cardboard, aluminum foil and fabric. If you're short on time, purchase pre-cut borders with seasonal patterns.

With Excel Math, students learn addition and subtraction plus foundational math concepts. Our unique spiraling process helps students retain those concepts over the long term.

This long-term retention of concepts leads to mastery and prepares students for rigorous new testing. Excel Math students are well prepared for STAAR testing, Common Core testing, real-world problem solving, and critical thinking. Learn more at www.excelmath.com.

Pumpkin Bulletin Board
Design your bulletin board as a pumpkin patch of math problems for the fall season. Print out the pumpkin patterns above. On each pumpkin write math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication,
division, percentages, fractions) or whatever concepts you're studying.

Leave some pumpkins blank. You may want to enlarge some pumpkins and tape the to the wall so they appear to sit on your floor.

Laminate the blank pumpkins so students can write their answers on the blanks and then wipe them off and start again the next day.

You can create fall leaves the same way. Cut them from construction paper, laminate them and let the students write their answers on the back.

Friday, September 11, 2015

Patriot Day Photos and Memories

My brother-in-law was a Lt. Colonel in the United States Army and stationed at the Pentagon in Washington DC on September 11, 2001. He was in his office planning to go to New York City to help with the rescue efforts at the World Trade Center when a hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon. He was lucky and survived.

However, many of his friends were killed that day. My brother-in-law was on the opposite side of the Pentagon when the hijacked plane crashed into it. See the photo below.

189 persons at the Pentagon lost their lives on 9/11. Our hearts go out to the relatives and friends of those who died at the Pentagon, in the Twin Towers and on the field in Pennsylvania on that day 14 years ago.

At 8:45 a.m. on a clear Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, an American Airlines Boeing 767 loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.

The impact left a gaping, burning hole near the 80th floor of the 110-story skyscraper, instantly killing hundreds of people and trapping hundreds more in higher floors.

Our heart-felt thanks to the first responders, firefighters, medical staff and volunteers who assisted in the rescue efforts including guiding people to safety, treating the injured, and comforting loved ones through the days to come.

On that day, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four airliners and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States.

Two of the planes were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. See the photos of the Twin Towers at night before 9/11 at left and below.

A third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C. (see the photo at right), and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.

Often referred to as 9/11, the attacks resulted in extensive death and destruction, triggering major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism and defining the presidency of George W. Bush.

Over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., including more than 400 police officers and firefighters. Read more on www.history.com/

Here are some videos and photos from that day and beforehand the destruction happened.

For educators and others interested in history, Flocabulary has put together an educational video: https://www.flocabulary.com/week-in-rap-extra-9-11/

“Week in Rap Extra: 9/11” covers the terrorist group responsible for the attack, how the US responded and how the country and world continue to remember the lives lost that day.

What do you remember about that day 14 years ago? Leave a comment in the box below to let us know where you were on 9/11.

Here are a few more before and after photos we've collected.

North Tower Fountain at the 9/11 Memorial

Twin Towers before 9/11

Twin Towers of the World Trade Center

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Common Core Math Success Stories—Teaching in Ways Students Learn

With all the commotion about Common Core Test Scores and 70% of students not making the grade in math, we thought some good news was in order.

Excel Math has a proven approach to teaching students math in the ways they learn best.

Students using Excel Math actually score well on Common Core tests across the nation.

For 40 years, Excel Math has produced excellent results, including improved test scores and high student engagement with math—all while giving students a solid foundation of math skills.

Let's take a look at a few success stories and test results shared with us by educators and parents using Excel Math.

"My children had been using Excel Math Standard Ed. at home for the last two years to supplement the math curriculum they have at school (which isn't very effective). This year they took the Common Core Math pretest for the first time.

We had been warned that our children would probably not score very well on these tests. However, my fourth grader scored 83% and my third grader (who is not a math genius) scored 98%! When people asked me if he was a math whiz, I had to tell them, "Not at all. It was the Excel Math Lesson Sheets!" — Wendy Ulrich, Mom in San Diego, CA

Granted, this was the Common Core Pre-Test, but most students across the country did not do very well on that test, so these results were outstanding.

The natural feedback loop in Excel Math gives students a chance to learn from their mistakes:

"My daughter struggled with grasping math concepts until she started with Excel Math in her new school. It just "clicked" with her and she now maintains a 99% average overall in math! Before using Excel Math, she wouldn't have cared whether she had her homework done or not. Now she completes her math homework first because the instant feedback of the 'CheckAnswers' allows her to locate and fix any mistakes on her own. She no longer has to wait for the teacher to grade her work to find out if she 'gets it'. Excel Math offers her a level of control that is often missing in other math curricula." - Mom in Bellevue, PA

A Common Core math educator and CCSS Coach teaching in the Los Angeles Unified School District saw similar results with his students and his own children:

"I believe in your Excel Math system, and promote it within LAUSD. I presented it as the centerpiece for a large conference for gifted parents last year. My daughters continue to use it as well. They recently scored 96% nationally in Mathematics for 1st and 3rd grades." — Teacher and Common Core Coach in Los Angeles, California

Around the country, schools are discovering that students can succeed in math (and test scores rise) when they use Excel Math.

One excited educator wrote to tell us:

Since we started using Excel Math at Whispering Palms School, our students have increased their math scores dramatically. On the testing in May we scored on average over two grades above grade level!

Excel Math teaches students in the way they learn best.

And the unique spiraling process in Excel Math gives students a way to get concepts into long-term memory so they are well
prepared for real-world math and higher-level thinking skills.

Want more evidence that Excel Math works? Download a Scientifically Based Research Report showing how Excel Math increases student test scores across all grade levels.

When you're ready to order, visit our web store at http://excelmath.myshopify.com/

We also have Texas (TEKS aligned) and Standard Teacher Editions available.

If you would like to get our occasional tips and extras for math educators, simply fill in the comment box below with the grade level(s) you teach and the word "join" in the comments section. You will receive an email from us every month or two letting you know about our new printables, tips for teachers, and special offers.

Additional Math Pages & Resources