Why not empower kids to create their own addition problems to solve? They love it! Here’s an activity I do with kindergartners and first graders. An easy way to adapt the lesson for beginning of the school year kindergartners is to have them simply place stickers (less than 10) and write the total.
So that’s what it means to multiply fractions! Visual representations make all the difference! I acutally have students first do this using a geoboard. Then we transfer to grid paper (see above photo). After collecting a number of samples, students look for patterns and discover that multiplying across gives them the same answer. But now it makes sense! CCSS: 5.NF.4; 5.NF.5
Kids who have a strong number sense can compose and decompose numbers, make reasonable estimates, and use numbers in flexible ways. Here’s a great example. (Aligns to the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics: Mathematical Practices – Look for and make use of structures.)
When my oldest son, Nathan, was four years old, I caught him crying silently in bed one night. I had gone back into his room to tuck him in as he liked to spend a few minutes “reading” to himself before saying goodnight. Seeing him crying concerned me. “Nathan, what’s the matter?” I asked. He lifted the book he had been reading and turned to the page where a cartoon representation of a slug was sitting behind a ticket booth….
This is a super easy, super fun activity where students discover the interior angle measurements of different polygons. I start with the triangle (see photo) and then have them work in groups to prove other interior angle measurements. Collaboration and communication in the math classroom is so important and this is an easy way to do it. Teams can then do a 1-2 minute presentation which helps develop their public speaking skills. CCSS: 4.MD.5; 4.MD.5; 4.MD.7