Math Stretch Numbers 1-121

I was very fortunate to attend Laney Sammon's Guided Math session for our district's institute day.  One of the big ideas we discussed were "math stretches."  A math stretch is a way to get the children thinking about math when they walk into the classroom in the morning.  A group of first grade teachers and I developed a math stretch based on  the first grade Common Core objective of being able to start at any number and count on.  Attached is a grid we created.  The idea is to make it larger so that each student can write a missing number on the chart.  Then when we get together,  I can ask the children: What patterns did you noticed?  What information helped you choose the number you wrote in the box?

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.

Time

Here is a great site for hour and half hour worksheets.

Guided Math Book Study Chapter 8

Thanks for stopping in!  I read this book last summer when I was trying to figure out how to get guided math up and running in my first grade classroom.  It was interesting to reread it again this summer. 

This chapter focuses on assessments. It talks about using assessments to drive your instruction.  This past year I spent much more time getting to know my students mathematically by having conversations with them.  I still used paper and pencil tests, but my interviews gave me a different glimpse at my students' mathematical understandings.

One area that I really focused on was helping my students learn their number combinations.  They each worked on a different number based on a hands-on assessment.   I had some students who were still struggling to learn the combinations to 5 and others who were already working with combinations of 15.   By using counters and talking with the students, I learned a lot more about their misconceptions and working strategies.  Children who I thought were doing well based on their written work, turned out to just be really fast counters!   I have attached the assessment our team used to this post, as well as the sheet I sent home to the parents letting them know what number their child was working on.

How do you think you will use assessments in your math class next year?  I would love to hear your ideas.

Making Tens

I like this worksheet from the blog Math Coaches Corner. It incorporates ten frames and writing the number sentences to make ten.

Dominoes-Sum Snakes

I think dominoes are a "must have" in every primary classroom. I love this game from the Origo site.