A glimpse at math in our classroom

Math is one of my favorite times of day, because students are working in small groups on various number sense tasks. I work with one group at a time to do our "core instruction" lessons (which come from our district's math curriculum) and the rest of the students work on other projects, including math games, number lines, building materials, and free choice activities. Here is a short one-minute video of what math looks like in our room!

First you'll see a small group working on their "Math By Myself," which involves filling in missing numbers on a number line. This helps them practice learning number order (what comes before and after a certain number), as well as identifying and writing numbers. Another group has finished their Math By Myself, and moved on to the math tubs area, where they are building some kind of structure with pattern blocks.

Next is a group working with me on writing and drawing simple number sentences, such as 2+3=5. We are just now starting to delve into addition and subtraction, and I always accompany the writing of number sentence with some kind of concrete depiction of the numbers. For example, when writing 2+3=5, the students in this group are drawing two objects, writing a plus sign, drawing three more objects, and then drawing five objects altogether.

The next group is working on math activities such as addition puzzles and shape stencils. The last several groups have free choice, and they are working together to learn in the dramatic play area and block area.