Math Centers
Overview
Math centers with math games, manipulatives, and activities support learner interests and promote the development of more complex math skills and social interactions. Having centers or stations with activities that students can do independently and with peers supports differentiation and allows them to meaningfully practice their math skills.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Watch how this first grade teacher implements math centers in her classroom. By using various materials like games and tablets, she has engaging stations where students practice and apply what they are learning, like Counting and Operations.
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Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Instructional Approaches Strategies
CRA is a sequential instructional approach during which students move from working with concrete materials to creating representational drawings to using abstract symbols.
Knowing the language of math is critical because students must use this language to understand math concepts and determine calculations needed.
In explicit number naming, the structure of the number name labels the number in Place Value order and clearly states the quantity.
Thinking of and about patterns encourages learners to look for and understand the rules and relationships that are critical components of mathematical reasoning.
Teaching students to recognize common problem structures helps them transfer solution methods from familiar to unfamiliar problems.
Discussing strategies for solving mathematics problems after initially letting students attempt to problem solve on their own helps them understand how to organize their mathematical thinking and intentionally tackle problems.
In guided inquiry, teachers help students use their own language for constructing knowledge by active listening and questioning.
Through short but regular mindfulness activities, students develop their awareness and ability to focus.
Instruction in multiple formats allows students to activate different cognitive skills to understand and remember the steps they are to take in their math work.
Using multiple methods of assessment can help educators gain a comprehensive understanding of learner progress across a wide range of skills and content.
A parent evening meeting about how to support numeracy at home with one follow-up meeting with each family has shown strong results for students' math development.
When teachers connect math to the students' world, students see how math is relevant and applicable to their daily lives.
A strengths-based approach is one where educators intentionally identify, communicate, and harness students' assets, across many aspects of the whole child, in order to empower them to flourish.
Three-phase lesson format is a problem-solving structure to promote meaningful math learning by activating prior knowledge, letting students explore mathematical thinking, and promoting a math community of learners.
Untimed tests provide students the opportunity to flexibly and productively work with numbers, further developing their problem-solving abilities.
