Fun, standards-based and age-appropriate activities and resources to help you plan smart for teaching math and teaching guided math groups.
Describing 3D shapes in kindergarten is now an expectation as it is a key geometry standard. This standard focuses on four main 3D shapes: cylinder sphere cube cone Students should be able to describe the faces, vertices, and edges of each shape. So, what are some 3D shapes activities for kindergarten and resources for practicing…
Work on addition and subtraction in kindergarten by playing games. Here is a collection of 11 free bump gameboards that kindergarteners can use to build their math skills. Bump-style games are perfect for kindergarten because they can be played by a single player or they can be a partner game. These games I’ve made practice these…
Work on identifying 3D shapes or describing 3D shapes with a free printable bingo game for kindergarten. Here is a bingo game that I made for my kindergarten class to play in small groups. Let me show you how to play it, how to make it, and give you the free download. Bingo is such…
We discovered why decomposing and composing numbers really is crazy important and dug into our daily schedule to find out how to easily teach composing numbers regularly. This is part 3 of this series – it’s all about taking this standard to a new level! Let’s review real quick: Working on decomposing and composing numbers into their groups of…
What we just explored why decomposing and composing numbers really is crazy important in kindergarten. This is part 2 of this series – it’s all about making practicing this skill regularly a cinch in the kindergarten classroom. As a recap, I know that we often call this common core standard “place value,” but really it is…
Decomposing numbers means to break down numbers into their sub-parts. Common Core standards has kindergarten students decomposing numbers in two ways. The first is to decompose numbers into their tens and ones (focus on numbers 11-19) and the second is to show how any number 1-10 can be created using a variety of addends. I…
Let’s teach kindergarteners how to sort with some creative ideas that are easy to implement. Here are sorting activities, a sorting song, and kindergarten videos on sorting objects to help you teach sorting. Sorting is a basic skill covered in most kindergarten curriculums. In fact, the common core standards state students should be able to…
Working on subtraction has been a goal of mine in teaching math to kindergartners. This free kindergarten subtraction game “What’s the Difference?” is one example of how I’m working to teach subtraction in various ways to better meet the needs of my students. Let me share why I’m venturing into teaching math in deeper ways…
I love using math games to encourage practicing standards independently in kindergarten. Here is a collection of resources and organizational printables that I made to help keep my fourth quarter guided math games organized. These materials are used in the practice zone by my students and are organized using ziploc baggies and housed in a cupboard….
Playing fun math games is one of my key strategies in giving kindergartners the time to practice key skills. Here is a free beginning numbers game that uses a die. It’s called Coconut roll and cover. How I use it in my classroom This activity is an activity my students use during guided math. I…
Set up and maintain a computer center in your classroom to support your math teaching. Let me show you how to set up a year-long center that is differentiated, open-ended and easy to maintain. If you want to have a computer center in your classroom, go for it! Let’s talk about why you would want…
When I began teaching with new math materials, like ten frames, my goal was to improve the number sense of my students. Here is a six step tutorial on how I created another math material to use with my students in small groups. This math material is called a math bead rack or a rekenrek….
When I am teaching a skill that doesn’t need to be differentiated {really} and that lends itself to exploration I try to accomplish covering it whole group. Most of my math instruction is done in small groups, but today I’d like to share how I teach measurement to my kindergarten class. When I teach measurement,…
You can use math journals to give students opportunities to write about their thinking and ditch worksheets once and for all. I loved using math journals in my classroom and here’s why. I hope to highlight two of my favorite reasons why using math journals is awesome with snapshots of student work. A little background Here…
Teaching teen numbers in kindergarten using a composing and decomposing numbers approach. Students learn the meaning behind place value and catch onto numbers 11-19 quickly. Here’s a math lesson I taught and the beauty behind letting kinders explore concepts over and over. Learning teen numbers in kindergarten without just “learning” by rote visualization! In math,…
Speaking of planning, I am sketching out the next nine weeks of math instruction. We are beginning work over the next nine weeks of really identifying, writing and composing/decomposing numbers 11-19 using tens and ones. As I was at the Dollar Tree today, I grabbed three sets of (affiliate) foam sheets. I was thinking of a way…
Two weeks ago, I was fussily taking some photos from our math journals to share and it hit me. I was teaching my kinders wrong! Okay, not wrong, but I could be teaching them better! Why, when I am working with them in groups or during our whole group calendar time, am I modeling subtraction by doing…
Starting this quarter I want to reward my kinders with knowing they are increasing their skills by giving them a repetitive activity that’ll show growth. Dare I say, they will be getting a “timed test?” Most of my kinders will love the challenge and I’ve worked at putting it together so that it is meaningful…
This year I have been using small group math instruction to guide my kinders. I’ve shared how its laid out and even a sample lesson called: Composing & Decomposing: A Guided Math Lesson Plan Flow I am very thankful for the insight that these opportunities provided since the way I was doing math in all…
This year I wanted to be more diligent about teaching various addition strategies as options for my students to explore to solve simple equations. I wanted to emphasize using ten frames, using number lines and a combination of mental math and touch dots. When it came to using the number line, I wasn’t personally as…