Illustrative Mathematics
Start/Stop Counting II
Take stroll around the classroom while teaching young mathematicians to count fluently with this whole-group math activity. The teacher starts things off by walking around the room while counting up from the number one and continues...
Illustrative Mathematics
Equality Number Sentences
Understanding the concept of equality is fundamental to the success of young mathematicians. To explore this basic idea, children compare the dots arranged in pairs of rectangles in order to determine whether or not they contain an equal...
Illustrative Mathematics
Field Day Scarcity
Introduce young mathematicians to concepts of financial literacy with this open-ended word problem. With seven dollars to spend during field day and given a list of available items and their prices, children must determine how they want...
Illustrative Mathematics
Representing Half of a Circle
Geometric shapes make great visual models for introducing young mathematicians to the concept of fractions. Looking at a series of four circles, students are asked to determine whether or not one half of each circle is shaded. To support...
Illustrative Mathematics
“Crossing the Decade” Concentration
Young mathematicians concentrate on learning to fluently count. Following the rules of the classic game Memory, children take turns flipping over cards in order to find pairs of numbers that cross a decade (e.g. 29 and 30). For younger...
Illustrative Mathematics
Counting Circles II
Fill those extra ten minutes of math time with this fun counting activity. Given a short sequence of numbers, young mathematicians stand in a circle and count one-by-one until the last number is reached, at which point the whole group...
Illustrative Mathematics
Comparing Numbers
Young mathematicians spin their way to a deeper number sense with this fun, collaborative activity. Using two spinners, one with the numbers 0-9 and the other with the decades 00-90, pairs of learners take turns building and comparing...
Illustrative Mathematics
Making a Clock
Have a fun time teaching children to read analog clocks with this whole-group math activity. Using large sets of the numerals 1-12 and 0, 5, 10...55, the teacher creates a large clock on either the carpet or the white board, explaining...
Illustrative Mathematics
Hundred Chart Digit Game
Math games, especially in the primary grades, provide great opportunities for developing the number sense of young mathematicians. Working in pairs with a deck of single-digit cards, students take turns drawing two cards and reading the...
Illustrative Mathematics
Make Your Own Puzzle
Puzzling over what geometry lesson to teach next? Look no further. This simple activity teaches young mathematicians how shapes can be decomposed into smaller figures, and how smaller figures can be assembled into larger shapes. To learn...
Illustrative Mathematics
Overlapping Rectangle
Challenge young mathematicians' ability to compose and decompose shapes with this fun geometry puzzle. The goal is simple, locate all of the rectangles shown in a picture of three overlapping rectangles. Perform this activity as a whole...
Illustrative Mathematics
How Long
It won't take young mathematicians long to learn how to measure length with this fun, hands-on activity. Working in pairs, children use Unifix® or snap cubes to measure and record the lengths of different classroom objects. To extend the...
Illustrative Mathematics
Number of the Day
Daily routines not only help to manage classrooms, they can also provide students with rich opportunities for learning. This activity supports young learners in developing their number sense by counting up the school days on a class 100...
Illustrative Mathematics
$20 Dot Map
Challenge the addition skills of young learners with this open-ended math problem. The task is simple, get from start to finish by connecting a series of three numbers. The trick is that the sum of the numbers must be less than or equal...
Illustrative Mathematics
Growing Bean Plants
Plant growth experiments offer rich, cross-curricular learning opportunities that can really excite and engage young learners. In this series, children work in pairs planting, measuring, and comparing the height of bean plants in order...
Illustrative Mathematics
Weather Graph Data
Teaching young mathematicians about collecting and analyzing data allows for a variety of fun and engaging activities. Here, children observe the weather every day for a month, recording their observations in the form of a bar graph....
Illustrative Mathematics
Kiri's Mathematics Match Game
Learning math is so much more fun when it involves playing games. Following the rules of the classic game Memory, young mathematicians flip over two cards at a time as they look for numbers whose sum or difference is equal to the value...
Illustrative Mathematics
Size Shuffle
In the eyes of children the world is a simple place, objects are either big or small. This simple activity aims to expand the comparison language of young mathematicians as they use the words taller and shorter to compare their height...
Illustrative Mathematics
3-D Shape Sort
From the apple on your desk and the coffee cup in your hand, to the cabinets along the classroom wall, basic three-dimensional shapes are found everywhere in the world around us. Introduce young mathematicians to the these common figures...
Illustrative Mathematics
All vs. Only Some
All shapes have certain defining attributes that set them apart from others. In order to understand this, young mathematicians look at examples and non-examples of triangles, rectangles, and squares, working as a whole class to create...
Illustrative Mathematics
Counting Squares
Challenge young mathematicians' understanding of squares with this geometry puzzle. The task is simple, identify as many squares as possible in a 3x3 array. Allow learners to work independently or in pairs as they search for squares,...
Illustrative Mathematics
Grandfather Tang's Story
It's amazing the complex figures that can be made using only a few simple shapes. Following a class reading of the children's book Grandfather Tang's Story by Ann Tompert, young mathematicians use sets of tangrams to create models of the...
Illustrative Mathematics
Measure Me!
How many unifix cubes tall are you? If you're not sure, then perform this math activity with your class and find out. Working in pairs, young mathematicians make measuring sticks out of unifix cubes in order to determine the length of...
Illustrative Mathematics
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor
What better way to engage children in a math instructional activity than by talking about ice cream? Using a pocket chart or piece of chart paper, the class works together creating a bar graph of the their favorite ice cream flavors....