Back to School Math Centers and Activities

The beginning of the year is a great time to observe students counting and number sense skills.  Here are some of the simple activities I like to use.

1. Counting Boxes:

I found these cute containers at Dollar Tree.  You get 10 in a package for $1. I put small objects in each container; paper clips, counters, tiny erasers, links, play money, etc.  You can use anything you have on hand.  

Then I labeled the front of the containers with a sharpie.  You could just put a number.  I put a number and what is inside. 

To use the activity, students take a container and count how many objects are inside.  Then they record the number on the recording sheet.  

Click here to get the recording sheet.

This activity is great as a center.  It also works well for small-group table time, you can make some great observations/anecdotal notes of students counting skills this way.

2.  Counting Mats:
This is a fun and simple activity! Students need a felt mat or piece of large piece of construction paper as a work space.  Add a set of number cards (you decide how high you would like them to go), and some fun manipulatives, and this center is ready to go.  Students grab a number card and count out that many objects.  The little pom-poms above are really fun to use.  Try to set out a variety of objects to make it more fun for students.

3. Number Strips:
This activity can be done whole class or as a center.  Give each student a strip of adding machine tape about 3 feet long.  They can tape it to a desk or table. You want them to write with the paper vertical so that each number has it's own line, so they don't have to worry about spaces between numbers. Students start at one and write as far as they can. If they fill the whole strip, they can tape another strip onto it and keep going. I have been using this activity for years, and they always LOVE it.  I think it is because they like to see how long their strip is.  It is a little messy, but worth it.  When students finish, I try to roll them up and rubber band them.  Later, I do a quick check to see where they are in their understanding of numbers.  I make myself a few quick notes about how far they can write, if they have reversals, etc.  It is a great way to get some quick data on students math skills.

4. Dry Erase Boards:
Students use these simple task cards and dry erase boards to draw pictures to represent numbers.
Click here to get the task cards.


I hope this gives you some easy math ideas that you can use the first week or two back at school.

Happy Teaching!

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Math Bins

Hi Everyone!  Today I am sharing an idea that works for me for Math Intervention.  My district requires us to have a daily twenty minute block for intervention and/or enrichment.

The hardest part is always keeping the other students engaged in MEANINGFUL tasks while I meet with students who need extra support or enrichment.  

This past year I FINALLY found something that has worked great for me...Math Bins.  
My students loved them!  
They were always disappointed if we didn't have time for them in a day.  

First of all, I LOVE these containers!  I found them at Target.  They were a little pricey, but I am glad I decided to use them.  I love the size of the containers, they are wide enough to fit lots of activities! They stack SUPER easy and don't take up a ton of space, you can see mine fit easily on top of a shelf. Also, they are very sturdy and have easy open handles for the kids.

I placed two or three activities in each bin.  I took part of my math instructional time to introduce any new activities before students used them in the bins.  Lots of the activities would be "repeats" that we had played earlier in the year. I always included some fact games, review activities, and new activities that correlated with our current learning targets. I always made sure to include all needed materials: dry erase markers, cubes, dice, etc. That ensured no roaming around the classroom or interrupting the teacher.

Every few weeks I would change the activities in the bins.  Originally I thought I would change them every week, but it was too time consuming.  I found by including more than one activity in the bins students would stay engaged with the activities for about three weeks at a time.

I used a pocket chart to organize who went to each bin each day.  Students stayed with their "Table Groups" and had an assigned spot on the floor close to their table for Math Bins.  Each day, I rotated the numbers so students went to a new bin each day.

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Telling Time

We have been working SO hard this week learning to tell time.  Those half-hour times are super tricky!  We had so much fun asking our friends "What time is it?"  Then we showed each other our watches and recorded everyone's times.  My favorite part of this activity...we played it several days in a row!  All we had to do was wear a different watch and it was like a whole new game.

Click here to check out the watches in my TPT store.

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Thanksgiving Week

This week we only have school Monday and Tuesday.  I am definitely ready for the break!  Since we only have two days we won't be using our normal ELA curriculum, and that frees up a little time for some seasonal activities.


We are going to read my favorite Thanksgiving story A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting.  If you haven't read it before, it is a super cute book.  Mrs. Moose wants to have a turkey for Thanksgiving.  She sends Mr. Moose out to find a turkey, which he drags to their house.  The surprise ending is that Mrs. Moose wants turkey to be a guest, not dinner!

After we read we are going to make a flap-book to retell the story.

We are also going to read All About Turkeys by Jim Arnosky.  I love pairing fiction and nonfiction titles on the same topic.  After reading students are going to web four new facts they learned about turkeys.

I also created a fact family practice sheet to go with our theme this week.

You can click on any of the pictures to head over to my TPT store and pick up this free download.

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Math Stations

Today I wanted to share my new lesson form I am going to use for math this year.  My math block includes 40 minutes of a whole group math lesson and 20 minutes of small group intervention and enrichment.  This year for my intervention/enrichment time I am going to try math stations.  My plan is to have five math stations.  This way students will visit one station each day and I will only have to change the stations once a week.  One of the math stations will be the computer component that goes with our district math program.  Then while students are working at their math stations I will have time to meet with students in small groups for intervention and enrichment work.

 

Click here to download

 

I am going to copy the form front to back.  On the front side of the form  I will list my daily math lessons in the long boxes and my math stations for the week in the left column.  Then on the back side of the form I will plan for my small group interventions, students for intervention, and notes on their progress.  I hope you find this form helpful!

 

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