Anyone who's been reading my blog on a regular basis knows that last year was my first year in first grade. During the first month I was fortunate to have a lot of help from my teaching partner and the veterans of the primary blogging community and Teachers Pay Teachers. And I reflected on my practices; what did they struggle with and what did I need to do differently?
Math was one of the hardest subjects for us the first
year. I knew we needed a lot more hands on
activities to alternate with the math workbook that we are required to use. I just couldn't get them together fast enough. But this year I was ready!
Not all cards are pictured |
Next, I knew I didn't do enough subitizing last year. Some of my first graders struggled with
counting last year. To make sure those struggling kids
were caught early and practiced regularly, I used the dominoes from Math in
Focus for 3 different activities.
- First, I used them in conjunction with fish memory cards from Angelina Grimes-Graeme from Extra Special Learning. Instead of cutting out the words and numbers, I left the pages in tact, in order. The kids simply match the dominoes to the fish bowl.
- Next, I had students order the dominoes backwards and forwards.
- The last activity was a simple game of "War" (each player flips over a card at random. The player with the greater number wins both cards). I modeled how we can go fast once we visualize instead of count the dots.
Another activity that we did do last year was with simple
greater than and less than symbols and numbers.
This year I differentiated the game and some students used numbers to 20. The number bears are from Yara Habanou at the
Sea of Knowledge (and graphics by DJ Inkers). If you recognize where the greater than/less
than signs are from, please let me know.
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Finally, the trickiest concept was "number
patterns," which I think is more aptly named, "Counting backwards and
forwards." Continuing a sequence that required "backing up" or sequencing from greatest to least were two skills that were SO
difficult for students. Even after
practicing one more and one less, (using this sheet by A. Brantley) to transfer this skill to the new context of a number line was too much of a leap. I knew that manipulatives would be better
than worksheets that had to be erased.
Markers would be more fun, but I thought of a number line activity that would be
self correcting. Most kids could see
right away that their first try did not work.
Partnering the kids with more number sense with those who needed more support ensured that they could see the fix up strategy again and again.
By rotating students through the games as well as the written work, they were much more engaged and less frustrated in math than they were last year. The workbook was not an effective tool to help them practice at the beginning of the year. So instead I spent time doing the pages
together in order to help them get used to the process of looking for
key words, using the pictures, and writing responses in the correct
spot. The time they spent on the activities were the more efficient way to practice the math concepts. I was even able to introduce choices toward the end of the unit, so students picked the activity they wanted to work on (after they had had experience using all the activities earlier in the unit).
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