The math activities that I complete with my students during the first week of school are specifically designed to help me get to know my students as mathematicians. This is a term that I use with my students all year long. Just like I call students readers and writers during reading and writing workshop, I call them mathematicians during math. This sets the tone that all students are mathematicians and that during math time we work hard as mathematicians.
The following back to school math activities are a great way to get students knee deep in math activities and critical thinking right from day one. Not only will your students begin the year already loving all things math, but you will gain valuable insight into how your students feel about math, face challenging problem solving tasks, and work and discuss mathematics with their peers.
These activities will take you through the first week of school and longer if you choose to go more in depth with each lesson idea. Grab FREE math problem solving activities and other math goodies at the bottom of this post.
Let's Talk Math
Following a class discussion on math, I have students work independently to complete a math inventory. This provides students with the chance to let me know how they feel about math in a private setting. I collect these and keep them in my files. I love to repeat this activity midyear to see if their thought about math have changed.
Once we have finished up discussing math and the inventories, I have students complete attainable math goals that they would like to achieve. I do use the SMART goal setting method which I have found to be a great way to help students set goals, meet them, and then set new goals again.
We are Mathematicians
Once your list is created, have students create a colorful illustration of themselves as mathematicians. Where would they be working? What tools would they use? Would they be alone? Have your students label their illustrations to show all the things that they are using.
I especially love this activity because the work that students complete look adorable hanging up on a bulletin board or on the classroom door! They are always a big hit for Meet the Teacher Night.
Read a Math Picture Book (or two)
- Last to Finish: A Story about the Smartest Boy in Math Class by Barbara Esham
- The Girl with a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague by Judy Finley Mosca (grab free printables for this activity HERE.)
- The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Helligman
Get Kids Talking About Math
The best way to get kids to talk about math in meaningful ways and engage in rich discourse about the problems that they solve is by teaching them!
I love displaying accountability math talk stems like these to practice kids in meaningful math discourse! It develops a great habit and encourages the students to keep the conversation going. I display them on my math bulletin board and give each student their own list to keep in their math notebooks. This makes a big difference and positively impacts the kids' ability to engage in rich math dialogue.
Growth Mindset
But over the years, I have found that much more is needed than just hanging up a positive quote.
By teaching formal lessons, reading picture books, and watching videos about growth mindset students will understand the concept of growth mindset much better and quickly begin to put some of the growth mindset strategies that I have taught them into play. That is why I set aside time during the first week of school to begin my growth mindset lessons. These can easily be weaved into your the first ten minutes of your beginning of the year math lessons.
Problem Solving
I love presenting students with problem solving tasks during the first week of school. While I do believe that understanding what basic math skills students have is important, I love to see how they work through more challenging tasks.
Any multiple step problem solving task that uses skills from the previous year will work as an informal assessment of students' abilities. Give students one class period to complete it,the process is more important than the final product. As they work observe their behaviors and dialogue with students, asking them questions about the steps and strategies that they are using to solve the problem
Collect student work and keep them as a benchmark activity even if students are not done. This is a great starting point that future assessments can be compared to as the year progresses. It also shows you what students can complete during one class period.
Play a Math Game
This FREE math game will give you some valuable insight into how your students approach both skill questions and problem solving questions. If you want more in depth games or school themed activities, these are my go to games to play with students during the first few weeks of school:
- Tic Tac Back to School Math Games (differentiated, digital for social distancing or remote learning, and printable versions available)
- Place Value Activities and Games
Back to school season is all about getting to know your new batch of students! Make sure you take the time to know them as mathematicians, too. It will not only show students how much you value math, but allow students to develop a positive relationship with mathematics right from day one.
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You might be interested in this math alphabet:
Make a math selfie bulletin board this back-to-school season!
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