Math can be one of the hardest subjects to plan for. You want to make learning math skills fun and enjoyable, but also clear. This subject can be challenging for some students to grasp and looking at equations all day can be discouraging and confusing. I’m sure, just like I did, you’ve looked all over for solutions on how to make planning lessons easy and assignments fun yet effective. Here are four ways you can make this possible!
Morning work is super important! It wakes the students up and, if we’re being honest, also gives us time to get the few last-minute things we need to get our day going. Make morning work fun by giving the students a little challenge. Set up a bulletin or area of the room with race cars and a track. After all the morning work is checked, move the race cars of the students who got the answers right. This lets them have the opportunity to have a fun reward daily and be motivated to see who wins the race at the end of the month or year. You can throw your own surprises in and create whatever rules you want and have fun with it yourself! This encourages your students to be excited about their morning work and secretly helps them work on those math skills every single morning!
Having good personal assignments is a great way to help students exercise their brains. It is also one of the easiest ways to check their individual math skills and see where the class is as a whole. Having intriguing homework or daily assignments like these can be so beneficial to their personal learning. I have even gathered the best math skills assignments together for a quick resource and no stress prep for you in these bundles! There are plenty of worksheets available for the entire year to give you peace of mind during lesson prep. Math skills are formed through working problems out by themselves and taking the processes they learn to apply in as many ways possible. This is best achieved through practice and individual assignments like these!
Even us teachers can love a good game! Games are challenging and exciting by adding in friendly competition and teamwork. I love to see students get so excited over solving math problems even if it is mainly just to beat the other team. There are so many games available that keep your students engaged and can help get everyone involved! Bingo, Task Cards, Game Boards, and more!
What better way for students to succeed than to have a teacher who is prepared and organized? Planning can be much easier by having all the resources you will need all year long that were made specifically for your grade in one place. That sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? It’s not! You can find all you need from morning work to assessments to homework to games here! There are so many practice sheets and assessments we need to have on hand throughout each lesson. Having the resources readily available can help you to be less stressed throughout the year and prepared for anything!
Go into this new year with less things on your to-do list. This way, you can put your focus on watching your students grow, knowing the best part about teaching is seeing the kiddos become confident in their own work and mastering skills they wouldn’t have if it weren’t for you!
You got this!
– Jennifer
Here’s a quick link to the printable and digital math resources I have available for you:
