Thinking about the upcoming school year? No matter how much we, as educators, want to enjoy our summers and our time away…school is always on our minds somewhere. Whether the faintest wondering what next year will be like to hardcore starting to plan, laminate, and cut out centers. Whatever your jam is, we are here for you either way. Whether you want us to give you a few things to think about from time to time or plan every step of the way, we got you! Here are 20 Math Activities to Start the New School Year, so take a few more moments for yourself and let us plan for you.
Math Lesson Overview
Let’s face it, the beginning of the school year is mostly review, especially in math. However, I need to start thinking about what my math lessons will generally look like. How should we begin? What is the flow going to be? Practice vs. instruction…gosh so much to think about!
There are two things I am certain about! How I am starting my lessons and incorporating hands-on activities! Education to the Core’s Math Warm-Ups is the perfect resource to allow my students to morph into ‘math mode’. Beginning each lesson with a warm-up is a must and they can work on their whiteboards to solve the digital problem(s) presented each day. Also, I love incorporating movement and hands-on experiences for review and practice, so math centers are important to me. What are your must-haves for your math lessons?
Another area of Math, I am slowly starting to think about is my Math Focus Wall and how my students will use it. However, I am kind of stuck on how to end my lessons. How are you planning on ending each lesson? Do you incorporate exit tickets? Be sure to reach out in the comments and help me out! Thanks in advance!
Addition Math Activities to Start the New School Year
Most likely, addition review is where you and I are going to be starting on Day 1. Depending on your class this year you may need to do several days of review and practice before starting up with any curriculum. That’s okay. You’ll get there. Having a strong foundation with fluency in math facts and skills I believe is super important. Because of that importance, we have some great resources that have numerous addition practice! Here are just a few of my favorites I am starting off the new school year with.
1. Addition Color By Number
2. Addition Story Problems
3. 2-Digit Addition Practice
4. Doubles Dominoes
5. I Spy Addition
Subtraction Math Activities
Perhaps if you are teaching older elementary, you will want to start off the school year with some mixed practice picking and choosing from the addition set and this one. Even if you are not ready for subtraction…just yet… these are some great subtraction resources that you can favorite in your Premium Membership to remember!
6. Subtracting Zero
7. Subtraction 0-20 File Folder Race
8. I Spy Math – Subtraction 0-10
9. Subtracting Two (0-10)
Other Math Activities to Start the New School Year
As we know there is way more to math concepts than just addition and subtraction! Whether you want to start off the school year with some review on place value, time, concepts with money, or shapes we have you covered! I even tossed in one of my personal favorite math topics to teach – the concept of data and graphing!
10. Place Value
11. Review – Time Clip Cards
12. Data and Graphing
13. Comparing Numbers
14. 2D or 3D Shape
15. Skip Counting
Hands-On Math Activities
You know me by now, I am all about incorporating hands-on activities! I love to see how students are applying what I taught them, but even sometimes in their own way. I feel I see this mostly in the area of math! Students like to find the way that best supports their own learning and understanding of the problem. My students truly come up with some interesting methods, but hey whatever works for them!
16. Beach Ball Toss
Write math facts on a beach ball. Give it a toss, wherever the student’s thumb lands when they catch it is what fact they need to solve. You can differentiate by having a few beach balls. One addition, one subtraction, one mixed practice!
17. Shape Shadow Drawing
I like to try to take the learning outside when I can. Especially at the beginning of the school year. You and your students can still enjoy the sunshine together! Gather various objects from the classrooms that are typical shapes that you’ve taught or been taught the prior school year.
On a sunny day, take your students outside with a piece of paper. Lay a piece of paper down on the ground outside and line up the objects along the side of the paper so that it creates a shadow on the paper. Discuss the shape that the object makes and you can have a further discussion on 2D and 3D shapes.
18. Paper Plane Launch
I love a hands-on activity to reinforce the skills taught! First, teach your students how to make paper airplanes. There are some great kid-friendly tutorials on YouTube (I needed it at first because I did NOT know how to make one prior). Once complete, students can take them outside or into the hallways. Measure the distance their airplane flew. Have their plane take a second flight. Then compare the two flight distances. How much longer did one flight make over the second? You can also add an extension to this activity by discussing weight and wind by adding paper clips as weight or taking them outside on a breezy day.
19. Math Mystery Number Game
Can your students guess the mystery number? This game can be played with the entire class, in small groups, or even in pairs. If you are playing this whole group, I like to have a large number line either drawn on the board or placed on the floor. I also created “Math Monsters” that I have on large sticks that the students can use with this game. Whoever is “it”, they pick a number and write it down on a whiteboard hidden from everyone else.
Here is where the game can alter a bit… one way to play is that the person with the mystery number gives clues about the number and the students take turns trying to guess the mystery number by writing it on their whiteboards. Examples of clues are “The mystery number is odd, it is bigger than 5, but less than 20,” and so on.
The second version is that the students ask yes or no questions to the mystery number holder. The students can ask is it greater than or less than ##. Then with their monster, they stand by the number with the monster facing the direction. So that the mystery number is always between the monsters to keep students focused. Either version is fun because guessing games always keep students’ interest as well as them waiting their turn to choose the mystery number.
20. Card Game
Grab a deck of cards, pair students with at least one buddy, and play a traditional card game of “War”. Here’s a quick refresher of this game if you haven’t played it in a while. Deal the deck of cards, face down to the students playing. Each student flips over one card. The student that laid down the card with the greatest number keeps all of the cards that were laid down. Keep playing until someone runs out of cards. The player with all of the cards in the end wins!
Some adaptations to consider:
- For younger students, I sometimes take out the jacks, queens, kings, and aces to keep only the number cards in the deck. This is a fun way for students to practice comparing numbers. Simple, no prep, and great for early finishers too!
- For older students or advanced gameplay, you can have students flip two to three cards to form a multi-digit number to compare. The rules are the same as above, where the larger number collects all the cards.
Looking for even more ideas for math activities for the start of the new year? Be sure to check out these amazing blogs on Math Read Alouds and No Prep Math Activities! What are some of your ideas that you like to use to review math at the beginning of the school year? Please be sure to reach out in the comments below and let us know some great activities we could add to this list!
You are part of the Education to the Core Family
We here at Education to the Core look forward to starting another year beside you. We strive to best support our Teaching Trailblazers! Whether that is you joining our Facebook Community of Fearless Second Grade, Fearless First Grade, or Fearless Kindergarten groups you are welcome with open arms. By listening to a podcast or reading a blog like this you are officially family and treated as such. Be sure to check out our linktree which has links to everything you need!
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Written By – Christopher Olson
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