I don’t know about you, but I am always on the hunt for new and engaging math centers! When my students are working independently on their math games/centers that means I am able to successfully meet with my small, guided math groups. It’s a win-win. Recently I went to an escape the room with some […]

After addition, we dive right into subtraction and learn how the two are related. Today, I wanted to share some of my favorite subtraction activities for first grade and a little about how I teach subtraction in my classroom. Strategies: I teach five main strategies when they are learning how to subtract. I introduce each […]

Hands-on math. I love it, I live for it, I believe in it. Nothing keeps my students engaged more than getting their hands on a piece of the action. I spent this past year focusing on math and trying to come up with tons of engaging activities, lessons, and games for first grade students. 

This post is also featured on the TpT blog. What is higher order thinking?  When I am talking about my students and higher order thinking, I am talking about the ability to use critical thinking skills to transfer their knowledge in order to solve a problem.   Well that wasn’t the most simple way to […]

Fractions in the first grade classroom can be a CHALLENGE for sure, but I like to use a lot of hands on manipulatives and real life situations for students to see the parts and the whole of each fraction. While CCSS only requires first graders to identify 1/2 and 1/4 of shapes, I like to […]

Playing math games in my first grade classroom is one of my favorite ways to reach my struggling learners.   Each year a new batch of students arrives and you can see pretty quickly which students excel with little help, which students are chugging right along at grade level, and which need a little more […]

2D and 3D shape lessons that relate to the Common Core Standards can be hard to find! I made some that were always a hit in my first grade classroom to share with you!   My first grade students LOVE pattern blocks. They find them mesmerizing and I find that they calm even the rowdiest […]

As I have been adding lessons to my Math Workshop Curriculum, I wanted to share some of my favorite Place Value Activities for first grade!   In first grade, I like to teach everything HANDS ON. I want my students to build the numbers, feel the numbers, see the numbers. I find that a tricky concept […]

Successfully implementing math workshop in first grade took a long time for me to feel comfortable with and I finally felt like I had a system of math games, activities, and a layout that worked in my classroom!   That being said, I wanted to take some time today to share what my math block […]