Number Fun

by Kathryn Davies
(Adelaide)

Each Friday we have a 45 minute block where we run 'Number Fun Friday'. This is a time where children work in small groups with an adult and participate in number games and activities.

I work on a five week rotation. The activities are open ended and allow the students to engage with the task at their own level.

Some of the activities that I have used are...

*snap the rod
*roll the dice and add and record (2 or 3 dice)
*Grab a handful - Students grab one or two handfuls of objects (buttons, counters, cubes) count and record. This is great for checking 1-1 correspondence
*Snakes and ladders
*Number Bingo
*Dot cards
*Domino Add
*Activities to do with ordinal numbers
*Lizard Land
*Calculator Count
*Whats my number

You could also do the 'number fun' concept with whatever you are focusing on in your class. We have 4 lessons per week on our 'focus' measurement, spatial sense and geometric reasoning..

I am a firm believer that number should be run throughout the year as well as a 'focus' unit during the year.

After each maths lesson we have a 10 minute 'journal' session. The children either write their own journal, or we write in our class maths journal. This encourages students to be reflective and take responsibility for their own learning.

Sometimes I have used a continuim of smiley faces.

Sentence starters for our maths journal include

Today in maths I ...

I discovered ...

I practiced ...

I'm not sure about ...

I need help with ...

Tomorrow I want to ...