suggested first 5 days of school
Choose your own maths adventure with our interactive tools that allow you to build a custom playlist of inspirational maths activities and messages! To build your WIM week, select one video, one resource for creating a positive maths community, and one task per day and add to your playlist. Then click “See Summary” to play videos, download materials and save/share your WIM week! Check out these pre-made playlists curated by the youcubed team for first grade, middle school and high school and share your playlist on social media with #myWIM!
Share the “Why” with Students: Give the students the rationale behind the Math Talk. Let them know that they have great thinking that we can't see and this gives them a chance to share what's going on in their brains. This also gives everyone a chance to learn from each other lots of different ways we can think about a problem.
Initial Implementation : As you begin to implement Math Talks in your classroom, you will want to keep them simple. Your goal might be to have 2 or 3 students share their thinking, which you capture and record without much comment or questioning.
● Provide a safe environment. ● Start with easier problems so that students can learn the routine and to encourage wide participation.
● Present calculation problems horizontally. ● Provide quiet think time and a silent signal. ● Accept, respect, and consider all answers.
● Capture student thinking as faithfully as you can. ● Write the student’s name so that you can refer to _______’s strategy.
● Develop your poker face. Respond neutrally to students’ comments.
More information: Number Talk "Look fors" Math Talk Process Tips for Number Talks
Days 1-3: Visuals are here (show one image at a time & discuss. If time, show another image.)
Questions: How many dots do you see here, and how do you know?
As students share, ask:
What questions do you have for ____ about how they saw the dots?
Who saw them in the same or a similar way?
Who saw them in a different way?
How are these ways similar? How are they similar?
Suggested Steps:
Quickly show one of the dot images so students do not have time to count. Have students show a thumbs-up to the chest if they think they know how many dots. Depending on the number of students who are showing you a thumbs-up, you may wish to show it a second time.
Solicit student responses, right or wrong.
Have students do a Turn-and-Talk to discuss how they saw the dots.
Have a few students share how they saw the dots. Make several copies of the Dot Talk in order to record student thinking by circling the groupings they identify, and writing the corresponding equation. Record students’ names on the copies.
Summarize the Math Talk by connecting the equations to each other and to the dots in the ten frame.
This type of Math Talk is intended to show that there are many different ways to group these dots, quantify them, and describe them with mathematical expressions.
For example, students might see the following combinations:
4 + 3 + 4 and determine that there are 11 dots; or two groups of 4 and know that 2 • 4 = 8 and then add 3 more; Or 3 groups of 3 diagonals and the 3 extra dots so that 9 + 2 is 11.
Bring attention to the value of being able to see a group of dots in a variety of ways to understand that there is always more than one solution to a problem.
Day 4
Number Strings
Question/Prompt: What is the sum? How do you know?
Show the first expression, allow for discussion of a few strategies, then show the next expression. Only show ONE problem at a time & discuss. The order is intentional so students start to build on ideas. Do as many expressions from one string as time and interest allow. You do not have to do all of the problems in the string in one day.
Using Doubles/near doubles strategy- Only show ONE problem at a time & discuss.
15 + 15
15 + 16
15 + 17
15 + 18
Day 5
18 + 18
18 + 19
18 + 17
19 + 19
Students may describe use of the standard algorithm to explain their thinking. This algorithm is taught formally in fourth grade once students have had sufficient experience with conceptual understanding of addition using the properties of operations and place value. Use questions to help students relate this strategy to decomposition by place value. For example: How many tens are there? How many ones? Why only record the “2” of the 12?
Ready Teacher Toolbox- Lessons 0 for the first five days: Lessons to launch to review key concepts to prepare for the start of the school year and familiarize students with the flow of the Try-Discuss-Connect instructional routine.
Guided Math expectations: For assistance on structuring guided math, click here. Guide to the first 20 days here.
Youcubed: Day 1: Halving
One misconception students often have when learning about fractions is that to half something you must cut it into only two pieces of the same shape. This task develops the idea of different ways of creating half of a whole. It allows students to be artistic and create interesting patterns of their own. It also allows students to describe and justify their thinking. In this task students are asked to consider ways to prove that a square is split in half and also to think of other ways to split a square in half and convince others that it is split in half. Content: Area, cutting in half, part-whole relationship, making convincing arguments, critiquing other people's arguments
Ready Teacher Toolbox- Lessons 0 for the first five days: Lessons to launch to review key concepts to prepare for the start of the school year and familiarize students with the flow of the Try-Discuss-Connect instructional routine.
Guided Math expectations: For assistance on structuring guided math, click here. Guide to the first 20 days here.
Youcubed: Day 2: Game of Totals
This activity is a fun way to develop an understanding of quantity and ways to make a total of 25. In this activity students will have an opportunity to count, add, keep track of totals, and use visuals to see the sum. Students will consider what quantities they will need to reach a total of 25 and will also create a strategy for reaching a total before their partner does. Content: Counting, finger discrimination, making conjectures, organizing, visualizing quantity
Ready Teacher Toolbox- Lessons 0 for the first five days: Lessons to launch to review key concepts to prepare for the start of the school year and familiarize students with the flow of the Try-Discuss-Connect instructional routine.
Guided Math expectations: For assistance on structuring guided math, click here. Guide to the first 20 days here.
Youcubed: Day 3: One Cut Geometry
This is a mind-blowing activity! We love it here at Youcubed and every time we have used it people walk away celebrating the challenge and their mistakes! The goal is to create 2-D geometrical shapes by cutting them out of a folded piece of paper with just one cut. Are you intrigued? Join us on a wonderful adventure. Content: Symmetry, shapes, investigating, making conjectures, testing conjectures
Ready Teacher Toolbox- Lessons 0 for the first five days: Lessons to launch to review key concepts to prepare for the start of the school year and familiarize students with the flow of the Try-Discuss-Connect instructional routine.
Guided Math expectations: For assistance on structuring guided math, click here. Guide to the first 20 days here.
Youcubed: Day 4: Building Shapes
This is one of our favorite team building activities. Students work together using a rope to create 3-D shapes. The teacher plays the role of the skeptic and asks students to justify how they know their shape satisfies its defined characteristics. Students will need everyone in their group to successfully build these complex shapes and provide a convincing argument. Content: Describing and making 2-D and 3-D shapes, making convincing arguments, critiquing other people's arguments
Ready Teacher Toolbox- Lessons 0 for the first five days: Lessons to launch to review key concepts to prepare for the start of the school year and familiarize students with the flow of the Try-Discuss-Connect instructional routine.
Guided Math expectations: For assistance on structuring guided math, click here. Guide to the first 20 days here.
Youcubed: Day 5: Framing Rectangles
In this activity students get creative with making rectangles out of square tiles. This activity makes space for our young mathematicians to count, describe shapes, explore ideas, build with square tiles, investigate conjectures, organize findings, add and takeaway square tiles, and record ideas with visuals. Content: Counting, making rectangles, making borders
Lesson Plan Day 5 the link in the lesson plan is not live, please use video link here: Video Day 5
“Closure in a lesson does not mean to pack up and move on. Rather, it is a cognitive activity that helps students focus on what was learned and whether it made sense and had meaning.” How the Brain Learns Mathematics (2007) P. 104
There are many ways to wrap up and reflect the day's activities but this step is often overlooked or rushed. Purposely plan and allow time for students to have closure each day (even if it means setting a timer or daily alarm so you don't run out of time).
Ideas for closure activities