Student buy-in was high this week when
I explained that ALL week we were not going to touch a pencil in math. (Note –
I *might* have fibbed…as my friends did
complete daily
exit slips – but shhhhh! They had so much fun that my firsties never called
me on it.).
Math in Focus had our friends
practicing mental strategies with. workbook.
pages. – shut the front door.
Re-read that sentences. Practicing mental strategies with a workbook
page…..I KNOW! Crazy talk. So, I whipped
up a series of games that we used instead as a supplement to MIF.
Throughout the week, we focused on four
strategies (1) Doubles (2) Doubles Plus 1 (3) Making Ten (4) Ten More/Less.
Here is what our pencil-less week looked like.
Doubles
Top-It: In partners, students play a
game of traditional War/Top-It. The value of each card is the missing number.
Students must quickly figure the missing number and compare it to the value of
their opponent’s card. . The flipped card with the highest value wins all the
cards. The winner is the first player with all the cards in his/her hand.
Ten
More/Less Tic Tac Toe: Students place
nine cards face down on the tic-tac-toe board. To play, a student will flip a
card and answer the question. If the student answers correctly, she/he can
claim that space. If the student is incorrect, the card is placed back into the
deck and a new card is placed face down on the space. (Note – I place the
playing board in a sheet protector and include a dry-erase marker for each
group. That way students can easily record their spaces and I do not have to
print new boards every time we play!)
Doubles
Plus 1: In groups, students take
turn rolling a dice. After rolling, students double their roll and add one.
Students will move that number of spaces and mark their new space on the 120s
chart. The first player to reach 120 wins! (Oops – I forgot to take pictures of it in action. Sorry, friends!)
All week there was 100% engagement in
math. In fact, so engaged that my surprise visit by the principal even went
super well! 🙂 Plus, all week friends told me math was their favorite part of
the day – woohoo!
Click here
or on any of the previews to grab your free copy of these resources from Google
Docs! If you have already covered mental strategies, feel free to pin this post, so you can grab the goodness next year!
FYI – When I printed all of these game cards, I did invest and print each
set on different color paper and I am SO glad I did. They were so much easier
to organize, distribute, and clean-up. Although finding 11 different colors of
paper is a pain initially, it is completely worth the effort!
I hope you have a fantastic week of
pencil-less math. Thanks so much for Teaching Blog Addicts for hosting! For me, I am off to nap. 🙂
I love that you practiced mental math using your students' brains instead of workbook pages. Your games look great and I can't wait to try them in my class!
These are great! I use MIF also and this unit was challenging. Your activities will be great for review as we move into this with numbers to 40. Thanks!!
Wow, amazing freebie! This is perfect – we also use MIF and my kids (and myself) are not big fans. Any engaging supplements (replacements) to the curriculum is wonderful! I'm your newest follower! =)
Also, if you give me your e-mail address, you were one of the 1st three to comment on my last post and get my jelly bean math packet for free!
9 Responses
I have done paperless teaching before but I love your idea for pencil-less math! Thanks for the great resources!
Looking From Third to Fourth
I love it! Thank you so much for the freebies!
🙂
Tamera
MyHeartBelongsinFirst
[email protected]
Thank you!!
Crystal Shepherd
[email protected]
The lamppost in 1st grade math
I love that you practiced mental math using your students' brains instead of workbook pages. Your games look great and I can't wait to try them in my class!
✿Becky & Julie
First Grade Friendzee
These are great. We need LOTS of work with the hundreds chart, and the doubles plus one activity will be perfect. Thanks so much for sharing!:)
Kelly
First Grade Fairytales
These are great! I use MIF also and this unit was challenging. Your activities will be great for review as we move into this with numbers to 40. Thanks!!
Wow, amazing freebie! This is perfect – we also use MIF and my kids (and myself) are not big fans. Any engaging supplements (replacements) to the curriculum is wonderful! I'm your newest follower! =)
Also, if you give me your e-mail address, you were one of the 1st three to comment on my last post and get my jelly bean math packet for free!
Nicole
Teaching's a Hoot
Thank you for sharing with us! I love your mental math games and they are great for my third graders.
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