Saturday 28 July 2012

Back to School Math Centres

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about how I am setting up my guided math next year. You can read all about it here. In my guided math there will be six stations:

1. Work with Teacher (small group instruction)
2. Math with Technology (Mimio activities)
3. Math Writing (math journals,
4. Math Work (independent worksheets)
5. Math by Myself (independent, hands-on activities)
6. Math with Someone (partner games or activities)

I have been gathering and creating activities that I want to use at the beginning of the year as we start our routines and procedures. For Math by Myself and Math with Someone, I will be introducing the choice activities slowly... We will do some of the activities whole group or in our small group before I put it on the shelf for them to choose. 

Some of the stations I posted last year {here} I will be using again. But I have also created some new centres that focus on really basic first grade skills. I have been warned that I have a very low class coming in next year... I was told to think of them as Kindergarten students still, so we are going to be focusing on very simple tasks to start with! Here's a peek at my new back to school centres... It's an intro to guided math that has *five* Math by Myself activities and *five* Math with Someone activities. Whether you are trying guided math or have another math centre system, these activities would be perfect for the start of the year! Click the picture below to check out TpT:



1. Flip & Count {Counting Forward by 1s to 30}: Students flip over an apple card and write the number on an apple on their recording sheet. They count up from that number until they reach the end of the row. Then a new card is chosen.

2. Crayon Patterning (Repeating Patterns}: Students take a card with coloured crayons and colour a row of crayons with that pattern. Ten different patterns are included.

3. Roll & Tally {Subitizing & Tally Marks}: Students roll a die and draw the dot pattern on their recording sheet. Beside the drawn dots, students make the same number of tally marks.

4. Number Word Puzzles {Number Words to 20}: Students complete the self-correcting puzzles to match the numbers and number words from 0 to 20. There is a recording sheet to complete as well.

5. Spin & Graph {Bar Graphs}: Students spin the spinner and colour the correct spot on the graph. When one of the bars reaches 10, the student stops and answers the questions about the graph.


1. Subitizing Concentration {Subitizing Ten Frames}: Students play a concentration game by matching number cards from 0-20 with the corresponding ten frame cards.

2. 10 Up {Counting by 10s}: An "UNO" type game that practices skip counting by 10s. There are four sets of cards from 10-100 in four different colours: red, yellow, blue, green. All the cards are shuffled and dealt out. (You can play with 2-4 students.) Students take turns placing one card on the board at a time. You start with the 10s and work up to 100. You can play any colour at any time, but the numbers have to be in order. The first player to get rid of all their cards is the winner!

3. One More Connect 4 {Addition +1}: Students take turns rolling a die and adding one. Then they cover up the answer on the game board. The first to get four in a row (up/down, across, or diagonal) is the winner!

4. Tic Tac Toe Math {Subitizing & Counting}: Students "read" the number in the box by subitizing or counting the objects before they can place their X or O. There are five different game boards to play.

5. Shape Go Fish {2D Shapes}: Students play go fish by making pairs of shape cards.

I am so excited about these centres! I think it will make our back to school twice as fun! ;) Check them out! Oh, before I forget, I will leave you with a little freebie! Here is one of the five Tic Tac Toe Math game boards for you to enjoy for free! Just click the picture to download your own copy.

Directions for Tic-Tac-Toe Math: You play just like regular tic tac toe (you can use magnetic letters or laminate and use a dry erase marker) but before a student can place their x or o, they have to subitize (or count) the picture and say the correct number. It's just to practice different ways to represent numbers (words, ten frames, dots, pictures, etc.)

This is such an easy game to prep! I can see making some more of these to practice shapes, addition, subtraction.... any math concept would work!

5 comments:

  1. Just found your posts about guided Math. I really should do something like this with my firsties this year. I love your freebie, but I am not quite sure how to play this Tic Tac Toe one. Thanks, Jackie jackie@acsnet.com

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  2. I guess I could have included instructions with my freebie! :) Whoopsie! You play just like regular tic tac toe (you can use magnetic letters or laminate and use a dry erase markers) but before a student can place their x or o, they have to subitize (or count) the picture and say the correct number. It's just to practice different ways to represent numbers (words, ten frames, dots, pictures, etc.) In my guided math pack, there are five different boards to practice numbers to 10.

    Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. Amanda, I just bought this. It looks AWESOME!
    Thank you :)

    ❀Barbara❀
    Grade ONEderful
    Ruby Slippers Blog Designs

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  4. Amanda I'm a second grade teacher (moved from supporting SPED students <7 years> in a resouce room to teacheing 2nd grade ) I've struggled with morning work and centers can you toss some hints my way of things that have worked for you?

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    Replies
    1. Hi there,

      I am not a morning work person. We have a certain routine we follow in the morning--take out your agendas, put your stuff away, and grab a group book basket to read quietly until it is time to start our day. This has worked well for me. I'm not constantly prepping worksheets for them to do... I just have a basket of books for each group. As for centers, you can read how I set up my math program {here}. It goes very slowly at first with lots of modelling!

      Good luck!
      Amanda

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