math

Low Prep, Easy to Manage Math Centers

If you teach kindergarten or have been in a kindergarten classroom for a while, you know that centers can be difficult to put into place. Young students come to us with very little independence and are not able to read directions. Hands-on activities are key to a successful kindergarten classroom.

I came from teaching high achieving first and third grade, so I was familiar with a fast paced, centers-based, independent, active math block. As I prepped for kindergarten math, I made sure I had many activities and manipulatives ready to go. BUT as I began getting into the groove of teaching math to my scholars, I reflected on what was and wasn’t working with my young students. You can read more about that here. I realized that I needed to simplify and make activities low prep for myself and predictable for my students.

Here are a few of the centers that are working WONDERFULLY for our classroom this year…

White Boards – The magical oh-so-much-more-wonderful version of paper. At the beginning of the year, students practiced writing numbers 1-30 using a number line. Currently, my students are writing as many addition sentences as they can on their own. I’m not quite sure why, but they are so engaged, and I am not complaining! About 3-6 students are at this center together.

When using white boards, I just ask that students keep their largest number 10 because I really want them practicing facts up to 10 to build their automaticity with those facts which will be a HUGE blessing to them in first grade. Other than that, students choose which facts they write and solve. However, if I know the student is above level, I will challenge them with using numbers up to 20 or beginning to subtract.

Technology – I am blessed to have quite a bit of technology at my school. We are not 1-to-1, but we currently have 5 laptops, 2 desktops, 3 iPads, and a Promethean Board. I do not tell you these things to brag. I’ve also been at schools with less technology. I just want you to realize that I have these as part of our rotation and it definitely does cut down on the overall noise level of our classroom when almost 10 students are on devices. If you do not have access to technology or certain technologies, you can always add an independent center to help cut down on the noise level while you work with a small group.

technology math center — All computers and laptops are used for i-Ready, a individualized program that our school purchased. Students are required to complete a certain amount of lessons each week.

Student technology in math centers — Our Promethean Board is used as an interactive addition center or for subtilizing practice.

This ice cream addition game is a class favorite. You can find it here. It’s great because you can differentiate it by which addition facts (1-9) it gives the students. We also use the Teacher Tools for Interactive Whiteboards from DreamBox Learning. Our favorites are the ten frames, math racks, and matching number pairs. This subtilizing practice has greatly increased my students’ number sense this year!

Here are some of our favorites: Marble Math, Splash Math, Learn with Boing, Touchtronic 123’s

Pocket Chart – About every 2-3 weeks I switch out this activity. I do not fill this center with an activity kids will need lots of help with. Most activities are strictly number sense or addition. About 4-5 students work at this center together. We loved this 1-20 number sense activity, but I can’t find where I downloaded it. 🙁 It was free.

Recently, I decided that I wanted my students to really understand the patterns that are in a 100 chart. I was also curious to see which students could quickly identify and order numbers to 100, and which needed assistance. I chose three colors of paper and cut them into fourths. I wrote all of the 5’s and 10’s on blue. Then, I alternated the horizontal rows to make it easier on little eyes as they sorted. All in all, this took me 10-15 minutes while my kids enjoyed indoor recess during a thunderstorm. Low Prep.

The results have been fantastic. The activity is time consuming for students, which allows me to truly concentrate on the students in my small group. It is also quite challenging! I have heard some fabulous conversations between students this week. When introducing the center, I explained that if you see a number in the wrong place, you must explain why it isn’t in the right place before you move it. This has helped the kids to work collaboratively with almost no arguing. Yahoooo!

As an extension, my students completed their very own hundred’s chart using this differentiated hundreds chart freebie. I love that I can print different levels of difficulty for each student! Soon, I will put these in clear sheet protectors and add them to our “white board” center for extra practice.

So, let’s talk prep. I don’t need to prep any of the technology centers. I don’t need to prep any of the white board activities. I prep the pocket chart once every 2-3 weeks. The only prep I regularly do is for my small group.

I truly love this set up because I really enjoy focusing on the 4-5 kiddos in front of me when we are in math small group. The repetitive predictable nature of the other centers leaves students feeling successful and allows for fewer teacher distractions. Although the entire arrangement may not work for everyone, you can pick and choose aspects of these centers that may be a success in your classroom as well!

Do you have any other low prep activities that your students enjoy? Share them in the comments below!

Learning to Thrive in Kindergarten Math Centers

When I taught first grade, our math centers rocked. Like seriously, it was awesome. The kids were on task while using manipulatives, journals were getting done on time, each group came to me for small group, and we finished 3-4 rotations per day in about one hour and ten minutes. I used this organization of centers and small group to make our time together as successful as it could be.

When I taught third grade, math was even more independent. We had math early finisher projects that the kids LOVED. The kids came to small group, had a computer center, and a math activity center. I pulled them for extra practice often, used lots of manipulatives to practice multiplication, and enjoyed watching them grow into upper elementary math scholars.

Teaching kindergarten is a totally different ball game. Independence is a far-fetched idea. I rarely get through more than two groups. I can no longer prep center activities that match our current skill. Centers are completely review. …And for a while, I felt awful.

Math was the one time of the day I would get anxiety. I had spent a lot of time this summer prepping and updating my math center resource so that I could use it in my classroom again. It had worked so well in first grade, and I just knew it would keep me super organized. I had the students grouped into 4 groups, storage for each day’s center, and rotation cards posted on a beautiful brand new huuuuggeeee pocket chart. $math rotation board$ People, it didn’t work. It didn’t flow at all. It was not successful like it was in my first grade classroom. It was like my math block was completely planned out, and completely broken at the same time. And that’s when I realized my mistake. For some reason, I thought that a system that worked for seven year olds would work for five year olds. It sounds insane as I write it here. Of course it wouldn’t. But I will tell you that I tried to make it work. And I will tell you that I failed, miserably. Some parts of teaching are just trial and error.I decided that I needed to stop forcing my OCD on this hour of my day, because it was just making everything crazy chaotic. As I started to let go, I began to see elements of my math block that were thriving. Kids weren’t expected to switch activities as many times throughout the hour. Students were focusing on one task for longer periods of time. I was able to spend quality time with about 8 to 15 of my 19 students each day during small group.

So…What has changed?

Switching from Small Group – This has been BY FAR the best change we have made. Students no longer switch centers on a regular schedule like they do during our literacy centers each morning. I pull a group of five students to my table at the beginning of our math block. As I see students who finish quickly or who are demonstrating the skill well, I dismiss them to the groups that are at centers. Usually, I will say, “Molly, you may go switch with Holly. Tell Holly to come to small group, and you can start working in her place.” Molly leaves small group. Holly comes to small group. If there is a student who is having trouble, this allows me to keep them with me even longer. Ta-da! (Super fancy, I know!)

Small Group Instruction – I usually meet with 8-15 students each afternoon depending on which kids are doing well and which need more assistance. Students stay at small group if they are having trouble. Kids come for five minutes if they can demonstrate the skill well.

Centers – Centers are now ALL review. (I used to change them every week or two. Now, they remain the same for our entire chapter or unit, unless I see kids beginning to work less and play more.) During these centers, I am pulling kids and swapping kids between activities as I see fit. It just seems to work for us this year.

1. One center usually includes creating addition sentences on white boards. For some reason, the kids love this. (I’ll take it!!!) 2. Another center is always ten frame fluency. Students quiz each other on how quickly they can identify the number in the ten frame as well as how many more are needed in the ten frame to make a ten. This helps them practice subtizing and addition fluency.3. The last center is a review activity. This may include ordering number cards, using links to build numbers, comparing numbers, or counting by 5’s and 10’s. You can find this popsicle center here.

4. Technology stays pretty much the same because our school requires us to use a program called i-Ready. We also have 3 iPads that students may play any math games on. Butterfly Math is my current favorite.

What’s the lesson? Do what is best for your kids. Do what is best for your classroom. Do what is best for you so that you can implement high quality instruction each and every day. What works beautifully one year, may be the bane of your existence the next…I exaggerate, but you understand. Your best instruction will be exposed when have found your groove. Be open to change. Change as you go. Find your groove, and teach on!

Want to read more?

Literacy
Decor
$elapsed time open number lines$
Math

Open Number Lines

(These examples are shown on plastic disposable plates. I just love this affordable option for student white boards! Just use a piece of felt or a tissue to wipe them clean. In class, we often also use white boards and chart paper when showing our examples.)

Students always seem to struggle with elapsed time. It’s a hard concept for them to wrap their brains around because it is so abstract.

When I taught third grade, I even found some students who have severe deficits in the basics of telling time. These students are just now mastering time to the minute, so I knew they would really struggle with elapsed time. This great way of mapping out elapsed time works like a charm. I wish I had learned it this way in school, because it just seems so obvious! Hop over to The Primary Pack to see the steps in action!

Money, Money, Money

Happy Thursday!

This week my firsties began counting money. They’ve been doing pretty well because we have incorporated it into calendar math since the beginning of the school year. However, the kids often mistaken nickels and quarters and have trouble adding on with larger valued coins.

So, on Tuesday in math small group we sorted coins using these great yellow mats from my second grade friend across the hall. The kids thought this was SO fun! (which made me laugh inside…)

After they sorted all the coins in front of them, we practiced skip counting. We counted by 1’s to find the value of the pennies. We counted by 5’s to find the value of the nickels. (You get the picture.) We also compared the total amount on each child’s mat. They were very excited to discover who had the most money!

This is one of this week’s favorite math centers. It’s called Scavenger Hunt Riddles.

Kids take a recording sheet (there are 8 varieties). They then choose the cards that match the color indicated on the recording sheet. For example, the recording sheet pictured here is for the GREEN cards, so kids choose the money cards with the green background. They count the coins inside the magnifying glass and then match it to the same number on their recording sheet. They write the word on the card under the correct amount of money. If they correctly identify and count the coins, they will answer the riddle!

Let me tell you. This is a HUGE hit! You can find this adorable center for FREE here!

Enjoy!

math

Footer