Several years ago I attended a conference on Math Workshop. I really wasn’t convinced that it could work in a first grade classroom. We just have too many new concept to teach them, I thought. It just won’t work.
As the speaker continued throughout our hours together, I was intrigued by her style of mixing review and new concepts in stations and by the engaging stations she prepared for her students. Then she said I just feel like I know my students better now. I have so much more time with them. That was the hook. I decided to start small. I would do stations two days a week and my traditional whole group teaching the other three days.
Two of the weekly stations I knew I wanted to implement were a hundreds chart station and a counting collection station. I loved the idea of allowing students time to grow and develop their number sense throughout the year.
I want to share with you my top 6 Number Sense Activities that have made such a difference for my students.
1. Counting Collections
I am putting this one first and it may be my top favorite. I just love counting collections. When I was a kid, I had a sticker collection (I know you’re jealous). Periodically, I would sit and count all my stickers 125, 126 … 372… Yes, that was how days were spent before kids had Minecraft and Snap Chat. As a teacher I realize how valuable it was to me to just sit and count. When I heard about counting collections, I realized that I was failing at giving my students consistent opportunities to count real objects.
The basis of counting collections is simple. You collect objects for your students to count. My favorite way to store them is in cups or tubs as shown in the picture. I change mine out every month to keep them fresh and engaging. Students also practice skip counting and dividing the objects into tens and ones. I do have a packet of counting collection tools, ideas, and recording sheet here. I have my students fill out a recording sheet after they count for accountability, to teach them to explain their thinking with writing, and to catch any issues in their counting understanding.
2. Count It Out
Count out loud as a class every day. I am constantly counting in my classroom throughout the day. Of course we need to count our team table points every morning to see who’s in the lead. Yes, we need to count how many days we have been in school. Emma, could you please count how many dry erasers we have in this tub to make sure there’s enough for everyone? I think I’d better count how many friends in my line are ready to go to recess, let’s see… (magical). Please be back at your desk in 20, 19, 18 …
If you have the kid who has engrained an incorrect counting pattern 15 16 18 19 20, he’s going to need to hear it the correct way over and over again before he can reprogram his brain. The picture above shows my Count It Out cards. I love using these as brain breaks and transitions as well as just to get my kids warmed up for math in the morning. We count aloud as we move in different ways. Wall push up counting anyone? You can grab them here if you like.
3. Writing Numbers
Probably my second favorite activity is Number Scrolls. Holy cow they are awesome for helping students understand how numbers progress. I first read about them here and fell in love (as did my students!) Basically, students create a long scroll of hundreds charts that roll up around a paper towel roll for storage. Check out that link for tons of info about how to start and store these.
I introduce these the last quarter of first grade so that my students stay excited about them. I have them write to 1,000 then start over for those who go over. Kids love how accomplished they feel each time they roll out their number scroll. I love how they learn how to write numbers over 100 and how they begin to understand these larger numbers.
After my first year using number scrolls I knew I needed a similar process for numbers up to 100 to use at the beginning of the year. That’s when I started Rainbow Write. Students write the numbers to 100 on each page of their book and get a punch on the cover each time they finish a page. At the end they earn a beautiful brag tag and a whole lot of pride!
4. Hundreds Chart Puzzles
I love using these puzzles for helping students understand how the hundreds chart works and for practicing reading and counting numbers. I keep this activity fresh throughout the year by using different themed puzzles. I have a bright color set, dinosaur set, camping set, and space set.
5. Hundreds Chart Find It
Another activity I love to use to get my students familiar with the hundreds chart is Find It. The game is simple, students draw a number card, find the number on their chart, and cover it with a bingo chip. They see how many they can cover and can compete with a friend or with a timer.
There are also Clue Cards they can use for a more advanced mode where they need to answer clues before finding the number. For example 3 tens and 2 ones or 10 less than 65. These clue cards are great to add an extra challenge.
6. Top It
The last game up today is all about comparing numbers. When my students play Top It, they each draw two cards and use them to make a two digit number. (For extra scaffolding, they can build the numbers with tens and ones.) The player with the greater number gets all four cards for points. The game continues until all the cards are gone.
My favorite thing about this card game is that I can use these same cards all year. More on this later, but just as a quick explanation, each week one of my math stations is cards. I just print off a different instruction sheet when I am ready to introduce a new game and BAM! station done. This has been a huge time saver for me!
What are your favorite number sense activities? Comment here to let me know.
-Brandi
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