• Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Cart

Carrberry Creations

Creative Tips & Resources for Busy Teachers

  • Carrberry Creations
  • Home
  • Blog
    • Literacy
      • Writing Instruction
    • Math
    • Classroom Management
    • Classroom Organization
    • Lesson Planning
    • Holidays and Celebrations
    • Education Crafts
  • About Us
  • Shop
  • My Account
You are here Home » Grade 1 » How to Make the Most of Your Math Warm-Ups

How to Make the Most of Your Math Warm-Ups

July 5, 2015 by carrberrycreations 4 Comments

Math warm-ups are my favorite part of the math lesson. Since we follow a district mandated curriculum, it is the only part of the math lesson I am really allowed to plan completely by myself, which I love doing.

Math Warm Ups

In case you are unsure, math warm-up time is 5-10 minutes set aside at the start of your math lesson to help get children focused on the topic. Generally students have spent most of their morning in Literacy instruction. Therefore, it is a real change of gears for them and the math warm-up can be an extremely useful tool to get students focused and ready to learn the math lesson of the day.  There are few “rules” about math warm ups with can be very liberating but also very intimidating.

My Favorite Activities for Math Warm-Ups:

An important guideline to which activity you choose for a math warm up is that it must tie directly to that day’s lesson, or don’t do it. Your time with your students is precious and you don’t want to spend 10 minutes playing an addition facts game to suddenly switch to an coin recognition lesson. Get them excited about math in the warm up and ride that wave of enthusiasm through the rest of the lesson.

1. Play a math facts game. If students will need to have great math facts fluency during the days lesson a fast paced math facts game such as addition around the world can get them excited about the day’s lesson.

2. Read them a math story. There are loads of math books out there, and most are really good, but buying up a bunch for your classroom can get quite expensive. My teammates and I decided to each create a math book mobile library for our classrooms. There are 4 of us and we each purchased a basket of 10 math topic books. Each quarter we pass the book baskets to another teacher, until we have all has a chance with each book basket. It works out well, and students love book basket day when we switch and get a whole new library of books. Each year each of us add a couple of books to the baskets, making it an even better resource.

3. Play a computer game. I am fortunate to have a smart board in my classroom, and so will use that to have students take turns playing a math game related to the day’s lesson. The bonus to this activity is that students love to revisit these games at packing up time, or inside recess if they can. Some websites I find games at are:

www.PBSKids.org

www.PBSKids.org

Click to go to BBC Bitesize

Click to go to BBC Bitesize

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Stories make great math warm-ups. Tell a story of math in the real world. I shouldn’t say this but…. it doesn’t even have to be a true story. Make up some silly story about how you, or someone you know made a math mistake and see if they can figure out what the problem was. My students love hearing about how I mess up getting what Mr. Carr’s Grandma wanted from the grocery store because she gives me really weird directions. The Stories I make up go something like this, “Yesterday I sure had a tough time at the grocery store. Grandma Carr gave me a weird list with the sales flyer attached ad I couldn’t figure out what she wanted. I might be able to get what she wants tonight on my way home, if I can only figure out the list. Do you guys think you could help me?” Then the list will say things like, I want the third item from the top on page 2. Or, it might give a clue like. I want you to get 3 cylinders from page 1. The stories are unbelievable and  the character isn’t real, and I think my students know that  – but they love it when I have a Grandma Carr mystery for them to solve. I think it helps them feel very grown up.

 

5. Sing a song about math. If you read my previous post about music in the classroom, you already know that my favorite teacher musicians are Dr. Jean, and Edutunes. Check out that post here.

In an effort not to loose their attention I try to be as hands on and engaging as possible during this part of my mathematics instruction. Even though my students would love to play math around the world every day (until they got bored) I don’t let them. Varying the type of math warm ups your do with your students keeps the lesson fresh, fun, and engaging. I hope I have shared some helpful ideas for this coming school year for you. If you have any other ideas to share please leave a note in the comments section below.

Digital-20signature_zpsdvjy7nex

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Classroom Management, Math Tagged With: Grade 1, Grade 2, Math, math warm ups

10 Ways to Make History Come Alive!
5 Ways to Help Students Reach Beyond Writer’s Block

Comments

  1. Marypat says

    July 6, 2015 at 9:34 am

    Thanks for sharing these great ideas!

    Reply
  2. Thia T says

    July 6, 2015 at 10:29 am

    I love the ideas for using music and singing! Thanks! ~Thia

    Reply
  3. Kerry says

    July 6, 2015 at 1:59 pm

    Great post! I love the idea about teachers on the team getting different math books and passing them around!

    Reply
  4. Kathie Yonemura says

    July 7, 2015 at 1:57 am

    I love using literature to teach math also!! Thanks for the great reminder for using music, too!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest From Instagram

carrberrycreations

Support for Busy Teachers TPT
Who else is ready for winter break? 🙋‍♀️ Who else is ready for winter break? 🙋‍♀️ I am soooo ready! Teaching int he year of the pandemic has been tough, and I am ready to relax a bit with my family and a cup of cocoa. Thankfully these Good classroom ready writing prompts will keep my students busy and engaged with CCSS aligned writing so my writing block planning is ✅ done! Grab your copy here: https://bit.ly/3m2azkl  Now for some cocoa!
‍
Happy holidays!
‍
.
.
.
.
.
#teachersofinstagram #distancelearning #iteach2 #iteach #writinginstruction #thisteacherneedsabreak #lessonplanning
I am humbled by the impact my emergency sub plans I am humbled by the impact my emergency sub plans 🚨. are making on classrooms around the world. It is my personal goal to help teachers add fun and reduce stress in their daily lives. I am so grateful ❤️. to the kind words of these teachers, letting me know I am achieving that goal in their classrooms.
‍
❤️ "I love this! It really came in handy last year when I needed it. I already have it in binders and ready for this year. Just in case!"
‍
❤️ "This was even better than I had hoped! You can print this out and walk away. You're ready for an emergency absence. I am so impressed by how thoroughly this resource covers all needs for a few days of an emergency absence. Highly recommend this product! :)"
‍
#teacherstress #iteach #iteachfirst #iteach2nd #teacherlive #teachersfollowteachers #teachersfinstagram #substituteteacher #BTS2020 #teacherspayteachers #teacherselfcare
Who else is ready for winter break? 🙋‍♀️ Who else is ready for winter break? 🙋‍♀️ I am soooo ready! Teaching int he year of the pandemic has been tough, and I am ready to relax a bit with my family and a cup of cocoa. Thankfully these Good classroom ready writing prompts will keep my students busy and engaged with CCSS aligned writing so my writing block planning is ✅ done! Grab your copy here: https://bit.ly/3fQ5JF2  Now for some cocoa!
‍
Happy holidays!
‍
.
.
.
.
.
#teachersofinstagram #distancelearning #iteach2 #iteach #writinginstruction #thisteacherneedsabreak #lessonplanning
My heart is so full 💗 after hearing how my emer My heart is so full 💗 after hearing how my emergency sub packets are helping teachers around the world have piece of mind when they are not feeling like the superheros 🦸🏻‍♀️ 🦸🏼🦸🏽‍♂️ they are!
‍
💗 "This totally saved me during this flu season!!! The items were relevant and purposeful for my awesome sub. Thank you!"
‍
💗 "Two days after purchasing this, I got sick! On the bright side, all I had to do was make copies of these wonderful resources for my students. This is worth the $$$"
‍
#teacherstress #iteach #iteachfirst #iteach2nd #teacherlive #teachersfollowteachers #teachersfinstagram #substituteteacher #BTS2020 #teacherspayteachers #teacherselfcare
Thank you @motherwithsign for your wise words! Yo Thank you @motherwithsign  for your wise words! You are right. It is never too late to make a great life! ❤️ 
•
•
•
#mostwonderfultimeoftheyear #teachersofinstagram #iteachthefuture #bestjobintheworld #teacherlife
We have finally made it to the day where it is off We have finally made it to the day where it is offically not too weird to decorate everythng in sight and play Christmas carols 24 hours a day. Wooo hoo! Did you make it?  I just need more jingle this year. #distanceteaching #christmasteaching #iteachk https://bit.ly/2UQrhYu
Who else is ready for winter break? 🙋‍♀️ Who else is ready for winter break? 🙋‍♀️ I am soooo ready! Teaching int he year of the pandemic has been tough, and I am ready to relax a bit with my family and a cup of cocoa. Thankfully these Good classroom ready writing prompts will keep my students busy and engaged with CCSS aligned writing so my writing block planning is ✅ done! Grab your copy here: https://bit.ly/36m1X3d  Now for some cocoa!
‍
Happy holidays!
‍
.
.
.
.
.
#teachersofinstagram #distancelearning #iteach2 #iteach #writinginstruction #thisteacherneedsabreak #lessonplanning
Who’s ready for some #cybermonday2020 shopping? Who’s ready for some #cybermonday2020  shopping? I know I am! Finally clearing out my wishlist on TPT to make December planning go quick. #teacherspayteacherssale
Hearing how the resources I create are saving teac Hearing how the resources I create are saving teachers precious time and lowering their stress levels makes my teacher heart so happy! 😍
‍
 😁 "These were so helpful when I got sick or an event came up unexpectedly! My subs loved how easy they were to follow."
‍
😀. "These plans have saved my teacher life. I have them copied and ready to go for an emergency but I have also used them when I'm just not feeling making extensive plans."
‍
#teacherstress #iteach #iteachfirst #iteach2nd #teacherlive #teachersfollowteachers #teachersfinstagram #substituteteacher #BTS2020 #teacherspayteachers
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Latest From Pinterest

Come See What I’m Pinning today

Copyright © 2021 · Sassafras Theme by Hello You Designs

Copyright © 2021 · Sassafras Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Please check out our resource shop! Dismiss