Are you getting ready to head back to school? These back to school math activities are perfect for getting your students into a routine, launching math workshop, and assessing where your students are coming in.
1. Spy Numbers to 10
This is one of my favorite back to school math activities, this activity is a great way for me to see where my students are with number recognition, partner play and more.
2. Addition Pencils
Addition Pencils is another great one that allows me to get a read on my students skills. This activity works on addition to 10. It is a great way for me to see who can add within 10, who is fluent, who struggles, what strategies they use, etc. This one is great because it can be done with partners/groups or individually so this one can help you learn who works well with partners, groups or alone.
3. Sticky Subtraction
This one is similar to Addition Pencils in that it helps access subtraction skills. Who can subtract, who is already fluent within 10, what strategies do they like, etc. This one can also be used individually, with partners or in groups. It is a great way to start seeing who could be in groups together based on behavior, work ethic, and skill level.
4. Build a City
This may be my favorite back to school math activity. This one is one that I use to assess students ability to recognize and represent numbers but this one also shows you their skills with manipulatives. Who plays with unifex cubes, who knows how to use them, who cleans up after themselves, etc. I like to do this one at my teacher table because of the manipulatives. Some years I do this activity after introducing unifex cubes, what they are, what we use them for, and teach them how to clean up appropriately. It really just depends on the year and the bunch I have.
5. 2D Shape Match
This is another great one for assessing prior knowledge. This back to school math activity can help you get a read on their 2D Shape identification skills. I like this one in particular for seeing how they work with a partner or for introducing effective partner work. We talk about agreeing and disagreeing kindly, problem solving and responsibility when working with partners.
All 5 of these Back to School Math Activities are great ways to start math routines, get students talking, and to begin assessing where students are. All of these activities are designed to be skills that students learned in Kindergarten so that instead of focusing on new material they can focus on the routines & procedures of math in your classroom. You can check out all 5 (+5 more) Back to School Math Activities here.
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