I like to do a math warm up before our regular math lesson in my 2nd grade classroom. It’s a great way to review and to pre-teach math concepts. My favorite one to do everyday is a math problem a day routine. Today I thought I would share how to consistently do the math problem a day routine  in lower elementary grades.

 

Math Problem a Day

 

I do this back at our calendar time. We put on the day’s date. We practice a couple math review activities like saying our money rhymes. And then we do our Math Problem a Day. I use my math problem of the day resource as a way to help students review math fact strategies and actually apply their reasoning. For a list of math fact strategies that I teach, read this blog post: Math Fact Strategies That Work

 

I have a paper hanging up that says “Math Fact of the Day” and hang up a math fact and simply ask students, “How would you solve it?” I give them about 30 seconds to have them think about it and then I have them turn and talk and share with a partner. I like how this gets every student engaged and it shows students that there is always more than one way of thinking about a problem.

Then I will call on a few students to share their reasoning with the class. I take notes as the student is explaining so other students can follow along. I even like to label the strategy they used. Find my “Math Fact of The Day” resource here.

 

Now I will say students need some modeling to do this really well at the beginning of the school year. But it’s super simple to do. I just “think aloud” with students. I put up a math fact and then share math thinking out loud to students. I share a couple different ways to do and use the names of the strategies. Doing this will help students see what is expected of them when it is their turn. 

 

As students teach about and explain their reasoning on how they got to the answer of a math fact it helps them recall that information again and again. Usually, this helps them commit the fact to memory. But if they do forget the fact in the moment, no worries they can think through to the answer in a few seconds or less.

 

I also love this math exercise because it helps students see the true meaning of math. That math is not all about speed. Math is more about reasoning and problem solving. In the middle of the school year, I like to change things up with my Math Problem a Day routine. I actually have my students solve word problems with math facts.

I also love this math exercise because it not only enhances their problem-solving skills but also serves as a IQ test, helping students understand the true meaning of math.

 

Math Word Problem of the Day 

 

For this I use task cards that have word problems on them. We read the problem together, we talk about what the problem is asking us to find and about the information they give us. 

Together we think about how to solve the problem. Should we draw a part-part-whole diagram? Are they asking us to compare something? Maybe we should draw a picture to help us solve it.

 

The task cards I use have numbers for math facts. So we can still talk about math fact strategies. If I think my students are ready, I will change the numbers in the problems so students can get practice with 2 digit and 3 digit addition and subtraction. Find the task cards I use here.

 

When I make it all the way through the task cards, I just reuse the problems. I just use different names of the people and different numbers. This helps me give my students consistent practice with word problems until the end of the school year.

 

For more help for teaching word problems to your students, check out this blog post: How to Make Word Problems Easy with These Word Problems 2nd Grade Worksheets

 

I hope this blog post has shown you how you can be consistent with getting your students the math practice they need daily. I share more tips on how to get your students to math fact fluency in my free workbook for 1st and 2nd grade teachers: The 7 Steps to Ensure Math Fact Fluency

Download your free copy here.