Number sense is a huge part of early math curriculum. It’s how learners truly understand numbers and how we use them in every day life. We always start off with number sense up to ten activities, but as they grow, we move them up to number sense up to twenty activities.
Plan a Math Block
Having a plan and a well scheduled block takes time to teach. However, once your students get the hang of it, things will run smoothly and more teaching will happen. The following will help create a consistent math block that you can start implementing now!
- Engaging mini lessons
- Math centers
- Independent practice
- visuals in your classroom
Plan Engaging Mini Lessons
Mini lessons are very short lessons that most preschool and kindergarten students can sit through. You want it engaging the entire time to avoid your students to lose attention.
I love using literacy during my math mini lesson. These number sense books are some of my favorite. I use them along with activities that are included in the Number Sense to 20 Math Unit.
Pocket charts are also perfect to have for mini lessons. This is where your entire class can observe your thinking as a teacher.
Math Centers That Count!
After mini lessons end, this is the time to break your class into smaller groups. This is where you meet small groups for math assessments, reteaching and reviews. But what are the rest of the students doing? This is the time for the others to break into math centers. These math centers are centered around counting to twenty using different strategies.
Independent Practice
But do students complete activities on their own? That’s a great question and it’s definitely necessary! Group work is not the time to assess a student on comprehension. I use independent practice as a way to quickly assess my students on where they are at. This could be in the form of a printable or a math notebook.
Visuals are Key
Visuals are a revolving door in my classroom. We, as a class, create anchor charts together. But I also print and laminate visuals to put up year after year. I place visuals at my teacher table, in my math centers, and throughout the room.
You can grab this free resource to get an idea of what my Number Sense to 20 pack is like!
