1. Hands on Math: Paperclip Equations (also can be done with fact families)
2. The Longest Chain - First, have students estimate how many paperclips they think they can link in a certain amount of time. Then, set a timer and have students make a chain as quickly as possible! Measure the paperclip chains. Who created the longest? Who's guess was the closest to their actual number?
3. Just my size - Have kids estimate how many paperclips it would take to create a chain the same height as them.
4. Mean, Median, Mode, Range - Race to make a chain! When time is up, kids count how many clips they linked. Write down the number of clips they linked on the board from lowest to highest. Next, find the mean, add up all their scores and divide the sum by how many teams there were. Then, circle the number that falls in the middle (median). Mode - did anyone have the same number of paper clips on their chain? Finally, find the range: subtract the lowest score from the highest.
5. Paperclip patterns: link colors to create a pattern.
6. Floating Paperclip! - Visit Science Bob for a paperclip science experiment about surface tension.
Now you see it, now you don't! Three hands on ways to explore missing addends!
Featured Above:
1. Paper Slider - Mrs. T.'s First Grade Class had fun figuring out the missing addend with a sliding bar! Click here for details, as well as for lots more awesome activities and printables!
2. Paper Peeker - Our Future is Bright created addition sentences with a mini flap for the missing addend. Visit her blog for a free printable!
3. Tell a friend to draw 2 cards and create an addition (or subtraction, multiplication, or division sentence) with a missing addend. Then, magically solve it right before their eyes!
Uh-oh, numbers and shapes are on the loose! It's up to kids to find them! First, kids create a wanted poster for a geometric solid. The wanted poster will help them retain a geometric solid's attributes. It will also help them with recognizing 3D solids in the real world. Then, they create a wanted poster for a numeral. This activity will help kids improve their number sense. Will their descriptions catch the mischievous culprits? After they complete their posters, you can incorporate writing with the project. Have kids write why their numeral or shape is wanted. What did it do to get into trouble?
Help kids with number sense (understanding parts and wholes) as well as fractions! All you need is a cup with a lid and two-sided counters (a color on one side and a different color on the other). Kids shake the cup and pour the counters on the table. Then, without flipping any of their counters over, they count how many of each color landed face up. For example, 6 red and 7 blue landed face up, with a total of 13 counters. Six and seven are both parts of thirteen (the whole). Not only does this game help with addition skills, but also with fractions. Have kids write the number bond and fractions for each color.
Note: You could also use ten frames with this game. After kids spill their counters on the table, they place the counters on ten frames. Kids see that 13 equals 1 ten and 3 ones, which helps with place value skills!
Have kids compare their number bonds. One friend could have 9 red and 4 blue. While someone else ended up with 3 red and 10 blue! Kids see various combinations of two numbers that equal the same whole: 13.
If you want to take the activity further, you could have kids write out the fact family for their number as well. However, this would take the fun out of the game!
Brighten up fact families with gradients of pop color! I love Manning Math Mania's paint chip fact family challenge, so I simplified it for younger kids. You can do multiplication / division, adding more paint chips like Manning Math Mania did.
Who doesn't like pizza?! Explore pizza with bubble maps, venn diagrams, fact families, and fractions!
Practice recognizing vowels and consonants, while working on math skills!
Teach kids that math and numbers are all around us, by having them do math that revolves around them! Bishop's Blackboard created the fantastic Math About Me activity featured left. Other math about me ideas you could add to the project: how many teeth kids have lost, their phone number, or the number of pets they have. Oh the possibilities!
