Math Game Day!

Yesterday, I enjoyed spending quality time with our first grade teachers during their weekly teacher meeting. They were curious about what else they could do during the fourth nine weeks to prepare their young mathematicians for second grade. They learned through vertical conversation that students coming into second grade needed to be fluent with their combinations of 10 (1+9, 2+8, 3+7, 4+6, 5+5), needed to automatically know their doubles (1+1, 2+2, 3+3, 4+4 etc...), and needed to have automaticity with doubles plus one (6+6=12. Add 1. 13). Being fluent with these skills, in addition to knowing how to use the strategy of an open number line were among second grade teachers top suggestions for an easy and successful transition into second grade.

The first grade team wanted students to be able to practice these necessary skills in an engaging way, so they asked if I could find math games to address these skills. With the help of Michelle Ellis, I turned to Catherine Twomey Fosnot's text, Games That Promote Early Number Sense, and looked for games to address the target skills. I gathered all necessary materials and set up five stations.

I began the meeting with a quick introduction of five games Rolling for Tens, Hide-and-Peek, Doubles, Doubles More or Less, and The Shoe Game, and then teachers paired up to rotate through each of the stations. They played the game, discussed student strategies, talked about ways to modify the games to differentiate instruction, and talked about what challenges their students may encounter. I circulated to each group, listened to the conversation, and answered their questions. After teachers played each game, we met for our closing session to share ideas.

The teachers left the session eager to implement these games in their classrooms. And, I can't wait to hear how it goes with their young mathematicians. I'm sure second grade teachers will appreciate their efforts!