Both writing and math require purposeful teaching. This article describes how one teacher discovered that she could teach math in a way that paralleled how she taught writing by researching what students know and then nudging them ahead to the next level of understanding. Just as effective writers employ creativity, perseverance, and revising, effective mathematicians also use these same qualities as they problem solve. By deliberately choosing activities that engage students in problem solving, they are subsequently encouraged to look for patterns, make conjectures, and reason about their own and classmates' ideas. (Contains 9 figures.)