Well, it’s Monday yet again which means it’s time for Volume 73 of Monday Must Reads. We’re out of school today for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Tomorrow starts semester 2, so I’ve officially survived an entire semester of teaching math during a pandemic. This is our first time finishing the semester in January, and let me just say that it feels weird. Very weird. We cancelled our semester tests due to the pandemic, so it made for an extra strange last week of the semester.
What is Monday Must Reads? It’s my weekly-ish attempt at capturing the amazing ideas I have seen shared by other (mostly) math teachers on twitter. Hopefully I will highlight at least one idea you missed that you can put to use in your own classroom soon!

Monday Must Reads
When the world returns to normal again, I think I want to try to do a Pi Day Bake Off Competition. Thanks to Westie’s Workshop for the idea!
Have you ever seen this Venn Diagram of shapes? This would be fun to give students with a list of shapes they have to find! I also found this from Westie’s Workshop.
Erick Lee shares a fabulous Desmos version of Shut the Box.
Erick Lee also shares an Among Us activity that asks students to search for the impostor.
Lesley Miller shares a lovely artistic activity for angles of elevation and depression.
Malia Heimbach wins the award for having the best neighbor in the world. I love the idea of giving ornaments for a prize.
Check out her students’ desmos gingerbread houses.
Annie Perkins shares a VERY COOL daily puzzle.
Louise shares some fun math anagrams.
Are you up for a challenge? Louise also shares a percents puzzle that she hasn’t been able to find a solution to. You can find the original SMILE task on Page 5 of this PDF.
Chris Smith shares a fun looking kaodoku puzzle!
Sarah Button shares some great strategies for helping students as they learn at home.
I also really like the idea of this Probability Monsters activity that Sarah Button shared. I remember doing a similar activity for genetics when I took biology in high school.
Kelsey O’Toole went above and beyond to mail students their shrinky dink desmos math art they created after they shifted to virtual learning. One of these days I’m finally going to do shrinky dinks with my classes. I’ve been thinking about it for YEARS.
Complete Maths shares how to do some Santa origami. Fun!
Mark Kaercher shares the results of his 25 days of snowflakes. Gorgeous!
Mrs. Dill inspires by sending students home with a packet of hot cocoa and my checkered ornament puzzle to solve.
Mr McGuire asks – what equations can you make?
Helen Saunders shares a beautiful origami wreath and a fractal Christmas tree. I’ve been getting back into origami lately, so I need to put this task on my calendar for December!
Until next week, keep sharing your awesome ideas! Want even more ideas? I suggest checking out previous volumes of Monday Must Reads!