Today, I am going to give you a peek into our math block!  We use a balanced math approach in our 60 minute math block.  This balanced math model which has four components:  mental math, math review, concept lesson and closure.

Starting Math Block With Calendar Time

Our math block kicks off with our calendar time.  The calendar time is led by our Boss Of The day.  Our calendar is interactive and engages all students.  The Boss Of The Day fills in the calendar on our smart board while the rest of the class provides the information.   We include the date, digital date, and days of the week.   Then we do a number of the day which includes a ten frame, even and odd, how many, tally marks, greater than/less than, counting on and counting back.  Place value is included by using place value blocks or base ten blocks to count the days in school.   This routine covers a number of standards and last 10 minutes or so.

Here is a video of our calendar routine:

Our calendar creations are available here:

Mental Math

Subitizing in action:

Math Review

Mini-Lesson

Here are some examples of our whole group math lessons:

Number Bootcamp:

Shapes Sorting Activity:

Here’s a video of a whole group math lesson:

Small Group/Guided Math

Math Centers

For a video our math block, check out this post:

Math Resources: