Six Tips for Successful First Grade Math Centers

Six Tips for First Grade Math Centers

We want students to be able to work independently at their first-grade math centers. This allows the teacher time to be able to work with small groups or individual students and meet a variety of needs within the classroom. Here are six of my best tips for successful first-grade math centers.  

#1- Math Centers should be fun

Math centers need to be fun and engaging for your students. Look for ways you can provide opportunities for students to move and interact with others during the activities. Write the Room is a favorite center activity that allows students to move around the classroom. 

Partner or small group games are also great! You will want to think through your level of comfort with students moving around the room and working with others. Take the time to train your students to work at an appropriate volume level for your classroom.

#2- Keep your centers predictable

One of the easiest ways to encourage independent work at centers is to keep the format of the activities similar from week to week. This helps students know how to use the center and reduces the number of questions your students will have. It will also cut down on the amount of time you spend explaining centers each week. You can easily change the skill you are working on while keep the activity the same. Activities like dice games, memory, and task cards work great for centers and can be used a lot of different ways.

Kids love playing memory!  This set is available as a free download in my TPT store.

# 3- Use math centers for review

Centers are the perfect place to practice and refine past learned skills. It's okay to place items in centers that seem "easy" or were taught several months ago. This increases the opportunity for students to work independently and gain fluency in their math skills. 

Avoid placing new content into math centers too quickly. Your students may have too many questions, or they may practice the skill incorrectly if the content isn't review work. You want to know your students have a strong understanding of the math concept before they are working without your guidance or support.

# 4- Students need accountability

We want centers to be fun AND we want students to stay focused on the task. Without something to turn in, some students will not be on task. One option is to include some type of recording sheet or exit ticket for students to complete with their center activity. It isn't usually necessary to grade these tasks, but it allows you to track that your students were engaged and on task. A sticker or stamp for completion of the task works great for accountability.

Recording sheets work great for student accountability!

#5- Utilize Technology

Classrooms today are full of technology and digital resources. Utilize the resources you used during remote learning and repurpose them for digital math centers. Platforms like Google, Seesaw, and Boom Cards make great first grade math centers.

Digital activity for practicing ten more and ten less from my digital place value bundle.

Students love digital activities that incorporate moveable pieces!

#6- Stay Organized

One of the most challenging aspects of math centers is keeping your supplies organized and picked up.  Develop an organizational system of containers, labels, etc. and train your students well on how you want them to clean up. Allow plenty of time for students to clean up centers correctly and put supplies away. Take the time to teach and practice clean-up procedures. Check out this blog post for ideas on staying organized.

Need some easy to use first grade math centers? Check out this bundle that works great for memory, write the room, and task cards. 

 

Polar Bears Reading Comprehension

Polar Bears Reading Comprehension {and Freebie}

First graders love learning about polar bears!  It is always a fun topic to teach during the winter months.

Using paired fiction and nonfiction texts is a great way to learn about polar bears because there are SO many opportunities for teaching your core English Language Arts Standards. 

I paired the read-aloud books The Snowy Day by Jan Brett and National Geographic Kids: Polar Bears by Laura Marsh for this resource.  

You can check out my other Winter Paired Text set here.

The Three Snow Bears is wonderful for teaching the skills of sequencing key details, studying characters and their traits, comparing and contrasting texts with Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and opinion writing.

The nonfiction text about polar bears provides opportunities to teach finding key details, close studying the text feature of a diagram, learning how glossaries work, and writing informative pieces. 

Informative Standards

Using a graphic organizer is the perfect way for students to find and record key details. This graphic organizer helps them focus on one topic at a time: polar bear bodies, food, environment, and cubs.

Main idea and detail is a tricky topic that students need a LOT of practice with!  This sheet scaffolds their learning by providing the main idea- students then add some related details.  A version without the main idea already listed is also included.

Kids will study a diagram of the polar bear paw.  Then they make their own diagram.  

Students will write a 5-sentence informative paragraph about polar bears.  This version provides a topic and closing sentence to support emergent learners.  A version for students to write all 5 sentences is also included. 

Free download: Click here to download the writing page.

Your class will learn how the text feature of a glossary works.  They will also also create their own picture glossary with the vocabulary words.

Literature Standards

After listening to The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett students will work together to sequence key details from the text.

Students will focus on character traits and search for text evidence of each trait.  Versions with and without character traits listed are included for easy differentiation.

The Three Snow Bears is the perfect text to compare and contrast with a more traditional version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  Cut and glue pieces are included, or students can fill in their own ideas.

Students will write a 5-sentence opinion piece about which story is their favorite!  

You will love all of the options for easy differentiation!  Many more ideas included.

Detailed lesson plans aligned to Common Core State Standards are included!

You can click here to learn more about this polar bears reading comprehension resource.

 

Christmas Countdown: A Fun Way to Keep Your Students Learning!

December is one of the most fun- and most challenging- months of the year!  There are so many great activities to do- but the KIDS are so excited that it is hard to keep them focused and working hard!  This Christmas Countdown is a great way to take advantage of every opportunity to keep students learning.  

I am a firm believer in positive reinforcement!  So, I came up with this fun idea for a whole class behavior incentive for December using a Christmas Countdown themed punchboard.  

How to Create a Christmas Countdown Punchboard:

The board is easy to make with a few basic supplies: foam board, disposable cups, tissue paper, rubber bands, a glue stick, and a hot glue gun. Add a cute heading and some clipart at the top using glue stick. Then, hot glue the cups to the board.

Next, fill the cups with reward slips for the students to earn.

Glue the circle pictures to the top of green tissue paper and then rubber band the paper around the cups. Be sure the reward slip and the top picture match!

Now the board can be displayed and your students can start earning the rewards!  There is a different reward for each cup- enough for at least 12 days.

Work on one reward cup at a time. Each student receives their own page to color in with the matching picture. When the whole-class exhibits great behavior, they all earn a coloring clue!  

I recommend using a cute Christmas themed box to store the clues.  You can read the clues out loud to your class, or choose a student to read it to them. You can reward any behavior that is important to you.  

Some behavior ideas might include:

• listening carefully to teacher directions
• working without distractions
• walking quietly in the hallway
• lining up quickly and appropriately

When they color an entire picture (the clue box is empty for that picture), then they get to open the matching punch box cup and reveal the class reward!  Once students have enjoyed the reward, you can begin working on the next cup. Your students will love making memories with this project, and you will love how it keeps them focused! 

Want to learn more about this Christmas countdown resource?  You can check it out in my TPT store!

Doubles Facts in Math: Addition Fluency Strategy

Doubles Facts in Math

Increasing students' fact fluency is an important goal in first grade!  For a small group of students memorizing addition and subtraction facts comes easy.  But most kids need a considerable amount of time and practice in order to become fluent with addition and subtraction facts to ten.  Today, I want to share some ideas for helping students to practice doubles facts. Doubles are a great place to start for increasing fact fluency and is also a precursor to learning the "doubles +1" strategy.  

Dice Games

Kids love using dice! If you haven't already, start collecting a wide assortment of dice: big, small, dots, numbers, different colors, dice within a dice, 6-sided, and specialty dice. Changing the dice is an easy way to add novelty to your math activities.

One simple math game for practicing doubles facts in math is Roll and Color. Students roll the dice and color the "double" of the number. They try to color five numbers in a row. Playing with a partner is a blast because they can block each other. Your class will want to play this game again and again!

Roll a Double is another simple activity for practicing doubles facts.  Students roll 2 dice or a dice within a dice (pictured) until they roll a double.  Then they record their double fact.  This game could even be played with just a piece of notebook paper for recording their doubles. This game is fast-paced and lots of fun!

Dice Tip- Foam dice that are quiet when they are rolled are amazing!  Another option is to have students roll the dice on a 9x12 felt square, which can easily be found at your local craft store.

Cubes

Unifix cubes are an excellent math tool that can be used in SO many ways!  They work great for practicing doubles facts in math. Give students a target sum (even number) and have them build a doubles cube model for that sum with two colors of cubes.  Starting with the sum is a great way to encourage some problem-solving skills for your students.

Ten Frames

Ten frames are a powerful math tool for helping kids visualize numbers!  Use doubles facts flashcards to have students build addition problems on their ten frames. 

This mat is fabulous for whole or small groups. Put the mat in a write and wipe pocket or page protector for repeated practice.  Students use dry erase markers to record the fact, then erase and start again.  

This worksheet is great for independent practice or a math center. Kids choose a ten frame. They double the number and write the addition sentence.  You can download a copy of the worksheet here.

Interactive Notebooks

An interactive notebook activity provides an opportunity for students to review their work.  They will love to revisit their notebook and practice their doubles!

Dominoes

Dominoes are another great tool for visualization! Have your students dig through sets of dominoes looking for doubles.  Then have them record the pairs of doubles facts.

 

Games!

Kids love anything that feels like a game instead of work!  Here are a couple of game ideas for you.

Memory Match:  Students find matching numerals. Then they tell the doubles fact. You could use something as simple as a deck of playing cards for this activity.

Puzzles are another game option. The best part- they are self-checking!  Consider adding in a recording sheet for accountability

Math Links:

First-graders love math links!  They are also a great way to continue to develop fine-motor skills.  Have students build doubles addition facts with the links.  Then they can attach the problem and the sum.

I hope this gave you some ideas of activities you can do in your classroom to help students learn their doubles facts in math and build their addition fluency.  If you would like to learn more about this resource, you can click the picture below.

Classroom Management: Fast Finishers

We've all been there.  Despite our best efforts at differentiation, some of our students complete their work very quickly!  Now they are standing by our side and asking "What can I do next?"

As you begin thinking about back to school, establishing a classroom management solution for your early finishers is one of the most important classroom routines you can plan for!

A reference display on a bulletin board or wall space makes an easy to manage system for our early finishers.  

I have used a couple different designs over the years, but the goal is the same: 

Create student independence through choice and a visual reference.

        

A few possible choices!

How it works: 

1.  Choose a variety of activities that students may complete when they are finished with their work.  Having about 6-8 student choices works really well.

2.  Create some sort of display for students to see a visual for the activities.  You could use a bulletin board, wall or door space, a pocket chart- the possibilities are endless.  If you don't want to create your own images, I have two versions available in my TPT shop.  Both sets have more than 35 options of activities!  They are quick and easy to print and hang.

          

3. Rotate activities throughout the year so students have new choices to keep it fresh and fun!  One idea is to use clips or clothespins so you can quickly update the display.

Hear what others have said about my fast finishers bulletin board sets:

"This product has made my year in Kindergarten run very smoothly. The kids know exactly what to do when they finish and I have noticed a great change in behaviors!" - Amanda H.

"I always had kids come up to me and say, "I'm done, now what can I do?" Now with these fast finisher posters, I haven't had anyone ask me! The pictures are a great visual for students and now they always have something to do when they finish!" - Julia K.

What are some of your favorite activities for your fast finishers?  Leave me a comment with some of the choices your students have.

Want to coordinate with your classroom rules posters?  Check out this rules set!