Major Focus of 1st Grade Mathematics

Students focus on a variety of topics in 1st grade.  Here are the big ideas we want all 1st grade students to understand:

• Students add and subtract within 20 and use their understanding of addition and subtraction to solve problems.  These problems should include situations where the result is unknown (e.g. “How many socks would I have altogether if I had two socks and added three more socks?”), the change is unknown (e.g.. “I had two socks, and now I have five.  How many did I add?) and start unknown (e.g. “I added two socks to the pile and now I have five.  How many socks did I start with?”)   Students should also see the connection between addition and subtraction.

• Think of whole numbers between 10 and 100 as being made up of groups of tens and ones.  Use their understanding of place value to compare numbers and add within 100.

• Measure the length of objects by using multiples of a smaller object (Measuring the length of a piece of paper with paper clips).  Use measurements to compare the lengths of objects.

• Know the features of two-and three dimensional shapes, and use shapes to make other shapes

General Resources for Supporting Math at Home

Good Games using simple materials from around the house - click on the link for a document containing 40+ games for fluency practice using simple materials - pencils, paper, paper clips, a deck of cards, and dice.

Pre-made games

Rush Hour Jr - ages 5 and up

Tangoes - ages 5 and up (Tangoes Jr has magnetic pieces that can be placed on the designs)

Equilibrio - ages 5 and up

Quirkle - ages 5 and up

Yahtzee - ages 5 and up

Kingdomino - ages 6 and up

Latice - ages 6 and up

Mobi - ages 6 and up

Monopoly - ages 6 and up

Patchwork - ages 6 and up

Rummikub - ages 6 and up

Set - ages 6 and up (can be played with a simpler deck by choosing only 1 shading)

Sorry - ages 6 and up

Uno - ages 6 and up

Battleship - ages 7 and up

Blokus - ages 7 and up

Othello - ages 7 and up

Ticket to Ride - ages 7 and up

Read

If you’re reading a picture books together talk about the math you see.  mathicalbooks.org - has lists of books with math related themes for kids aged 2 to 18..

Other Good Activities

Cook together - A great way to work on counting and a good way to introduce fractions!

Talk with your kids about mathematics - Christopher Danielson, a mathematics professor and parent, has a great website with ideas for talking with kids ages 1-9 about mathematics http://talkingmathwithkids.com/ 

Family Support Materials for Illustrative Mathematics 

Mathematics program used in the classroom

Illustrative Mathematics' Family Support website has materials to support families of kindergarten to Grade 6 students.  Families can watch overview videos explaining each unit (with subtitles in English and Spanish) and read Family Letters for each unit, translated into 14 different languages.