Math Workstations

Hop over to Peterson's Pad for some amazing math workstation ideas.  I especially like the activity Dice Numbers because you can use different sided dice to differentiate the activity for your students.

Apps to Build Number Sense

Did you know that Augustana College has a number sense project?  They sent their university students into the schools to work with kindergartners.  This morphed into a series of educational apps to build number sense.  The apps are not super fancy, but they do focus on building number sense with ten frames, subitizing, and number lines.

Here is the list I am hoping to purchase for our iPads at school.

Line 'em Up  Free
10 Frame Fill  Free
What's Hiding? $0.99
Word Problems  Free
Thinking of a Number  $0.99
Pattern Sets   $0.99

Great Teacher Resource

Have you checked out the Teaching Channel yet?  There are a lot of great videos there to give you ideas for strengthen your students' number sense.

I really like the one called Mingle to use as a brain break when children need to get up and move.

Number Bracelets

This is a great idea for math tubs from Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits. She shows how to use beads to show the parts that make up a whole number.

Toothpicks and Number Sense

I think this idea from the blog First Grade Parade is great for beginning of the year math tubs. It is simple, but yet you can differentiate the activity easily by using larger numbers.

Beginning Number Sense Math Mats

Thanks to Heidi Samuelson for finding this great resource from Geocitites. I especially like the Lego mats.

Teaching Math Videos

This link has free videos about teaching math from the Annenberg Foundation website.

Online Games

The blog First Grade in the Desert recently posted a link to the Investigations online math game site.  There you will find games for counting/numbers, addition/subtraction, geometry, data, and patterns.

Beginning Numbers-Subitizing (again)

Here is a great post from the blog Math is Not a Four Letter Word about why subitizing is important.  I think if we can help those kids who come to use with minimal number sense right away ... it could make all the difference when they try to tackle other math concepts.  I have been thinking about how to assess children's number sense knowledge.  So far I think Kathy Richardson's Counting Objects Assessment and Changing Number Asessment  is the right way to go.

Beginning Numbers-Math Rack

Beginning number concepts for first graders include the concept of subitizing.  Subitizing is the ability to look at a group of objects and know what the number is or the numbers that make up that number.  For example-a child can look at the pips on dice that are rolled and know that one of them is a four because of the pattern the dots form.  Another example is a child who looks at a ten frame and can recognize that the number shown is five because half of the ten frame is filled in.  I recently went to a workshop with Dr. Nicki Newton who introduced me to the world of subitizing (and a cool tool I will explain below) and I have been trying ever since to figure out ways to help my students with this concept. 

One of the ways to help students with this concept is a  thing called a Rekenrek or Math Frame.  These tools are pricey-so I have made mine out of pipe cleaners, two colored beads, and plastic mesh canvas (used when embroidering).

Children can use a Rekenrek/Math Frame to start understanding the concept of a five and ten (as well as other numbers).  For example-all the beads start on the right side.  To show the number five-the student swoops all the red beads on the top row to the left.   To show the number eight-the student swoops all the red beads and three white beads that are on the top row to the left.  Here are some resources so you can see other activities and probably a better explanation about the concept!  This manipulative has endless possibilities for beginning number concepts as well as addition, subtraction, and story problems.


Don't forget to go back and check out all the great information at:

Number Sense-Subitizing-Place Value

Check out this great site called Mathematically Minded (Thanks, Jill!).  They have some wonderful resources for subitizing and place value.  Even though this is a company that is selling products, they have offered some valuable resources for free.

Number Sense-Dot Card and Ten Frame Activities-Subitizing

This is a good resource to help us in the beginning of the year to build subitizing for both Perceptual Subitizing (recognition of number patterns) and Conceptual Subitizing (recognition of number patterns parts to the whole).  When you use the dot cards with students you should ask "What do you see?" as opposed to "How many?"  It gives the children the opportunity to think about the dots as different arrangements of numbers. (Dr. Nicki Newton)

More cool subitizing resources: MovieMakers.

Common Core-1st Grade Number Activities

WOW!  This site is awesome!  It has examples of activities that correlate to each of the Common Core State Standards.