Mental Math Update

4th post of the night... I sure am making up for lost time!  This was such a great week and I have to share it all before a new week begins!  This week we did in fact start the mental math routines I worked on last weekend.  I wasn't sure what the kids would think... last year's kiddos didn't like the flashes and dot plates as much as I thought they would (even if they did learn a ton from them), but this year's kids love them!  They actually were asking them and groaned when we put them away each day- I love when that happens!  They also were each clamoring to share their own strategy and didn't want to move onto the next flash.  I wanted to provide some more resources to help anyone interested in making their own materials for 10 minute math routines.

First of course, are my ten frame flashes on TpT:

I also have other ten frame flashes, but this week we started simple with the single ten frames.

Second, we used dot plates.  All I did was take dot patterns and make them with red and blue dot stickers on Chinet plates.  Super easy... took about 15 minutes tops.

 
I got these from a Pearson website with a sample chapter by John Van de Walle.  Of course, my dots are red and blue, not red and black. :)  

We also did domino flashes.  This is basically exactly like the dot plate flashes, only I hold up large printouts of dominoes instead.  It's just another way for the kids to see the numbers, and this time it's in a context they are familiar with, as they see dominoes in class and maybe at home.  Domino dot configurations also match dots on dice, so they are a bit easier.

You can download these at mathwire.com.  There are so many great websites out there and it's nice that while we share with each other on TpT, that there are some equally great freebies, too!

Each of these routines only take ten minutes or less a day and give kids a chance to practice subitizing, visualizing numbers, and forming relationships between numbers.  They also have some really great math discussions and have a lot of fun!  My posts from earlier in the week on number routines give other resources and more description.  If you have any routines or resources you use, link up!

Where did the weekend go? Working on Incorporating Math Routines

Ok, so how is it Sunday night already?  I always have such an ambitious to-do list and then I just get disappointed when I don't get it all done!  Here's what I did do:

1. Lesson plans... really good ones, I might add!
2. Read up on math routines to slide into the time slots I created each day in my plans to practice math skills outside of the Everyday Math lesson.
3. Came up with a solution to my organizational issues in the classroom with Daily 5 and math materials... trips to Staples, Target, and Lowe's and $300 later.  (Is this why I do not own my own home?  I think so!)  
4. Uploaded books on CD to iTunes to put on our classroom iPods for Listen to Reading.  The kids are PUMPED about this, so I had to get it done!
5. Started a new to-do list!

Number Routines/Mental Math

Alright, I posted on Friday about how I wanted to incorporate mental math into my day and I squeezed some time in after lunch.  I only needed about 10 or 15 minutes, so I figured this is totally do-able.  We'll see how it goes tomorrow, but after going back and reading or rereading some of the books I shared, I know I need to fit this into my day.  We're going to work on number sense, subitizing, and the concepts of 5 and 10.

How are we going to do this in 10-15 minutes a day?  Well, I will keep you posted, but here are some things on my list:

1. Ten Frame Flashes- flash a ten frame on the projector and students have to quickly determine how many counters they see.  They also explain how they saw it.  For example, in the 2nd slide below,  one student may see 7 counters as 3+4, one may see it as 3+3+1, and another may see it as 8-1.  Here are some samples from the slides I use, which are on my TpT page.  Just click the slides to go see more!

For this slide, students may see 8+8, 4+4+4+4, 20-4, etc.

2.  Finger patterns- students hold up fingers according to a number I give.  We discuss the different patterns students made.

3.  Dot plates- dots are arranged on a plate and students must quickly determine how many dots they see, much like 10 frame flashes.

4. Domino flashes- enlarged domino printouts are used just like ten frame and dot plate flashes.

5. Counting around the rug- We choose how we are going to count (forward by 2s, backwards by 1s, etc.) and students take turns counting.  Each student says a number and we zigzag around the rows on the rug.  This is one of the students favorites activities from last year, so we will see once these are all incorporated what this year's kiddos think.

I will try to share pictures of the activities we try and keep you posted as to how it goes.  I already have all these materials made and have shared my ten frame flashes on TpT.  I'd share the rest, but I printed out the dominoes from another site and I actually glued dots onto real plates for the dot plates!  You're on your own for these for now! :)