Monthly Math Mats for daily math fact practice: activities for daily spiral math review. Great for math centers, morning work, or homework.
Tips for Teaching with Monthly Math Mats in K-2
Today I am excited to share a fantastic way to teach and practice math skills daily. It is using monthly Math Mats for daily math fact practice.
The reason for creating this product was so that I had something to give my students to practice the math concepts that we needed to know daily. I wanted each page of this resource to provide an abundance of learning opportunities, as well as the necessary review that is needed for students to retain an understanding of math skills and standards. From this idea, I came up with Math Mats.
A Breakdown of a Math Math
Each Math Mat is different, and each month touches on many of the Common Core Standards for Math for kindergarten, first, and second grade. It will also work as a math review or challenge. You can be confident that your students are learning and practicing the necessary skills in math each month!
Math Skills Covered in 1st Grade Math Mats
- Addition word problems
- Subtraction word problems
- Addition math fact practice with fingers, number lines, 10 frames, and pictures, as well as figuring out the missing addends, adding 3 numbers, and whether equations are true or false.
- Subtraction math fact practice with fingers, number lines, 10 frames, and pictures, as well as finding out the missing numbers, subtracting 3 numbers, and whether equations are true or false.
- 2D Geometry – draw, identify, and describe shapes
- 3D Geometry – identify, describe, and match shapes with real-life objects
- Measurement – counting number of units, describing which object is tallest/shortest/longest, and drawing objects that are taller/shorter/longer
- Time to the hour and half hour – add hands-on clocks & reading clocks
- Months of the year
- Numbers to 100 – fill in missing numbers and complete number charts
- Write number words to 20
- Place value to 20 – counting and drawing ones and tens blocks
- Greater and less than
- 1/10 more or less
- Number order to 100
- Ordinal numbers to 10
- Tally marks
- Odd/Even
- Skip Counting by 2’s, 5’s, & 10’s – counting groups and using the skip counting patterns
- Graphing – adding data onto graphs and answering questions
- Sorting – counting groups and making a sorting rule
- Patterning – create and complete different types of patterns
- Money – identify and count coins (provided in Canadian on additional pages)
Another reason why I LOVE these mats is the low-prep aspect. They are print-and-go style printable sheets that lend themselves well to many uses. Below are 4 ways that I suggest using Math Mats in your classroom.
4 Ways to Use Math Mats
- Copy Math Mats on card stock and laminate. You could also put the pages inside a wipe-off cover. Give students a dry-erase pen to complete the Math Mat for that day. After they complete a mat, they simply clean it off and give it to someone else to complete. They work great for your math center and during your fast finisher time.
You can print Math Mats on seasonal colored paper. You can keep them stored for each month, ready to go.
2. A cover page is provided in each Math Mat pack with the option of creating a booklet for your students. These booklets work great for morning work time or for homework packets to send home with your students each month. Parents would love that!
3. Do you use Interactive Notebooks? Well, look no further…Math Mats are perfect for your interactive math notebooks! Simply, change your printer settings to print off a smaller, scaled copy of a Math Mat. Follow the steps below!
Math Mats work great in your interactive notebooks during Math Workshop time!
4. Another option for keeping Math Mats and other math activities all in one place is to use a three-pronged folder. I love using these types of folders because my students can keep them in their book baskets or desks and they are easily accessible when needed. You could make a copy of the monthly Math Mats for each student to place inside their folder and use for morning work and during Math Workshop.
What a Math Mat Looks Like
Here is close-up sample of a Math Mat. Each mat has a spot for your student’s name and the date. Each Math Mat is clearly represented with the math concept (heading) at the top of each section.
The instructions are below the headings and important text is in bold to help students complete the activities. Seasonal graphics and math manipulative graphics are used to clearly represent the problems.
Teachers Approve Math Mats
Teachers love to use Math Mats in their classrooms and have shared their feedback.
Free Math Review Mats
Are you looking to provide valuable math review for your students? Try the Math Mat practice worksheets sample for K-2. There are pages included for each grade with different skills. Try them in your math small groups, centers, or during independent practice times.
Grab a free sample by clicking the image below.
Math Mat Resources
If you LOVE Math Mats, I recommend trying the complete Math Mat bundles and resources available for K-2.
I hope you can use these monthly Math Mats for daily spiral math practice in your classroom. If you have any questions, leave me a comment below.
More Math Resources
Independent Math Practice Ideas
How to Run Math Small Groups Effectively in K-2
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