Daily 5 Math

Okay, okay I know you are getting tired of hearing me say how amazing my class is, but they are!  I am always telling parents and other teachers how lucky I am, and it's true!  It is time for you to understand why!  Last week I began talking about Daily 5 Math to my students.  I explained that Daily 5 Math looks a lot like Daily 5 Reading and we have to learn the rules and routines before we can start it.  We spent a little time in math each day last week reviewing rules and learning about a few activities.  Fast forward to Monday of this week and the 1st graders were eager to give it a try.

Daily 5 Math is similar to Daily 5 Reading in that it provides me with the opportunity to work with students individually or in small groups while the other students are quiet and actively engaged in purposeful activities.  Eventually, students will participate in Math with Self, Math with Partner, Math on Computer, Math with Teacher and Math Journals.  For now, they have just learned about Math with Self and Math Journals.  Below you will see a few photos of students trying some of the Math with Self activities including Geoboards, Roll and Color, Roll and Count On, Dice in a Dice Addition, Addition Towers, and Tangrams.  In total, we have 10 different activities available right now.  It might look like playing, but each of these activities have students working on a variety of mathematical skills.

Now the really neat part about this all!  Watch and see just how quiet my room is during these student-led activities below.  WOW!  Have you ever seen so many six and seven year olds working so quietly?  Don't try to turn up your volume, that is really what the room sounds like!  You can only year a few dice being tossed and some unifix cubes being snapped.

 

I'll post a short weekly update at the end of this week.  For now, thank your child for being so amazing and working so hard in 1st grade!