First Grade Math Warm-up Activity

Warm-up activities can reinforce and review first graders' basic math skills.

In 2010, the National Governor's Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers headed a state-led process to develop new standards in mathematics for use by states across the nation. As of January 2011, all but nine states have formally adopted the Common Core State Standards. One way that teachers can incorporate these standards into daily instruction is through a daily warm-up math activity. Warm-up practice activities are essential components of mathematics instruction, and should review skills already taught, have simple directions and only a few problems. The Common Core Standards set out four areas where first grade mathematics instruction should focus, and warm-up activities can focus on these four areas.

Addition Warm-Up Activity

A quick dice game can reinforce first graders' addition skills.

The first area of importance set out in the new standards is a development of understanding of addition and subtraction up to 20. A great, interactive way to review addition concepts is to have students play an individual dice game. Provide students with a blank sheet of paper and a set of dice. Have the students roll the dice and then draw their dice on the paper. Student should add the dots on both dice, and then make a number sentence. For example, if students rolled a "3" and a "5," they would draw two dice, one with three dots and one with five dots. Then, they would write the number sentence "3 + 5 = 8." Collect the students' papers to assess their progress.

Counting Warm-Up Activity

First graders must learn to count on from any number up to 120.

Another critical area of importance under the new standards is development of number relationships. The standards state that a component of this is the ability to count to 120 starting at any number less than 120. A quick way to review counting skills is with blank hundreds charts, which are grids with 100 separate blocks in rows of ten. Many are available free online, but you can also create your own using word processing software if you would like one that goes up to 120. Begin the activity by giving the students a "number of the day." Students must locate where this number should go on the hundreds chart and fill it in. Then, students must fill in the rest of the chart up to 100 or 120. You can also vary this activity to include skip counting. For example, if your number of the day was "5," you could have students count by five all the way to 120.

Measuring Warm-Up Activity

Before learning to measure with a ruler, first graders learn to measure with non-standard units such as paper clips.

The third area of importance under the new standards is the development of understanding of linear measurement. In first grade, students should learn to compare the lengths of two objects using a non-standard unit of measurement. For example, students could compare the length of a marker and a crayon by measuring them with paper clips. A great way to reinforce this skill in a warm-up activity is with a measurement journal. Provide students with a small dish (with a lid) of paper clips, as well as a notebook. Each day, before class begins, students select two objects to measure with the paper clips. In their notebook, they draw the two objects, and record the number of paper clips long each object was. Then, have students circle the longer object. This provides daily practice in not only the skill of measuring, but also in the comparison of objects' length.

Geometry Warm-Up Activity

First grade students learn the attributes of different shapes.

The final area of importance set out by the common core standards is the development of reasoning about the attributes of geometry. This means that students should be able to build and draw shapes with certain characteristics. A great warm-up activity to reinforce this skill is through geometry riddles. This activity can be completed in their math journal. Read students a riddle aloud. For example, you could say, "I am a shape with four equal sides that is the color of grass in the summertime." Students should draw a green square in their math journal. Complete three to four riddles each day. Once students get used to the process, have one student helper each day come up with her own riddle for the class to solve.

References

• Common Core Standards State Standards Initiative: Common Core Standards for Mathematics
• Common Core Standards State Standards Initiative: In the States
• "Journal of Learning Disabilities"; Mathematics Instruction for Secondary Students with Learning Disabilities; E.D. Jones, et al.; March/April 1997

Resources

• Scholastic: Four Great Math Games