November Math Centers

It is hard to believe that November is here!  For a lot of schools, they are getting close or starting quarter  2.  For many of you, your hard work is paying off and the students are starting to follow rules and routines a little more independently.  

In November, I start to introduce a lot of new concepts in math.  Although my school implements Everyday Math, the small group activities are not enough to help students master concepts.  So I have created centers that will help reinforce small lesson concepts and build these important skills.

If your school is like mine, Kindergarten teachers are responsible to create their own timeline of when important concepts should be taught and implemented in the classroom.  I created this blog post to share the math concepts and activities that I introduce and use in the month of November click (here) to see the unit (it includes literacy concepts as well).  

Number Identification and Writing Practice (1-10) (1-15) 

Kindergarten has changed so much in the last five years that we are under the assumption that students come into kindergarten with a good number sense.  I have found this to be untrue.  Some students are able to count to 100, but because their fine motor skills are so low they are unable to write the numbers 1-10 in the correct manner.  This is something that needs to be practiced consistently.  We write numbers on a weekly basis.  We have moved on to 1-15.

Ordering Numbers  In November I expect kids to be able to not only write numbers 1-10, I am looking for them to order numbers 1-10, 1-15.  I set this activity near a pocket chart and the boys and girls place their recording sheets on a clipboard.  Then, the boys and girls order the numbers and write or trace the numbers. 

Missing Numbers to 10/Unscramble is another activity that really helps students visualize a number line from 1-10.  Believe it or not students are still mixing up numbers at this point of the year.

Matching numbers to sets is another favorite in the class.  The boys and girls like to use colored pencils (twistables) to represent each number.  It ends up looking like a rainbow write.  

Ten and Twenty Frames  The boys and girls feel comfortable working with ten frames and most are pretty comfortable with the numbers 1-10.  Counting Crows is a great activity to use to work on twenty frames.  The boys and girls count the crows, write the number and color the ten/twenty frame to match.

Estimation can be a hard concept for students.  Kids always want to have the right answer.  This activity is a simple way to practice estimating.  This is a concept that we have done in a large group setting throughout the beginning of the year, but the first time independently. In Beary Fun Estimation the boys and girl choose a bowl of bears, and write their "estimation" on the bear.  Next, they count the total number and than write the number on the bowl. 

In A Hand Full of Estimation the boys and girl choose a handful of bears and write their guess in the first hand and the actual amount in the second hand.

Measurement is always fun for the kids.  They especially love the pan balance.  I like to hold the kids accountable with  Beary Fun Balance.  The boys and girls choose a card and place the matching number of bears on each side and color the picture of the matching pan balance.

We continue to work on measurement with How Does Fall Measure Up.  The boys and girls count how many block units tall each fall picture is.  Its a nice introduction to base ten blocks as well.

Count and Graph The boys and girls love little graphs that they can do independently.  Up until November we usually do graphs in a large group setting.  In Forest Friends Count & Graph the boys and girls will count and graph each of the forest animals.

Number Sense and Dice We all know that learning is more fun when you make it a game...now at some feathers and its a blast.  The boys and girls LOVED Tail Feather Fun.   They roll the dice and then add the matching number of feathers.  Their favorite part was adding the feather to the dough.  

The boys and girls also had a blast with Color Word Corn.  They roll the dice and color the corn the corresponding color.

Shapes In November, most of the boys and girls can identify all of their shapes and we are starting to look at 2D and 3D shapes.  In Shape Chase the boys and girls choose a card and determine which shape the 3D picture resembles.

Addition November I still use objects to help students add.  Subtraction is similar.  This helps students visualize.