Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

What’s Missing?

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
Now you see them, now you don't! This fun peek-a-boo activity engages young mathematicians in developing their ability to compose and decompose numbers. After being presented with a series of counters, children close their eyes while the...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Pick Two

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
Learning to break apart numbers into smaller pairs is a critical step young mathematicians take as they develop their number sense. To practice this skill, children are provided with sets of three numbers and are asked to pick the two...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Which Weighs More? Which Weighs Less?

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
Expand the the comparative language of young mathematicians with a hand-on weight measurement activity. Working independently or in pairs, children compare the weight of large wooden blocks to various other classroom objects, recording...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

All vs. Only Some

For Teachers Pre-K - 2nd Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Shake and Spill

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
Entertaining as well as educational, this math activity about decomposing numbers is bound to capture the engagement of young learners. Given a cup and five two-color counters, young mathematicians simply shake and spill the cup,...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Christina's Candies

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
Help Christina figure out how many chocolate and lemon candies she has with a lesson on decomposing numbers. When presenting this context to the class, the teacher chooses the total number of candies and the number that are chocolate,...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Size Shuffle

For Teachers Pre-K - 2nd Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Sort and Count II

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
Capture the engagement of young mathematicians with this hands-on sorting activity. Given a bag of objects, learners work independently sorting the items based on their physical attributes, counting to determine the size of each group....
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Sort and Count

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
Young mathematicians are on their feet and moving around in this primary grade sorting activity. After giving each child an object or picture card, they then sort themselves into groups, counting to see which has the most or least...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Heavy

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
Break out the balances for this primary grade lesson on weight measurement. Using common elementary school manipulatives like unifix or snap cubes, young mathematicians determine the weight of four different classroom objects. A graphic...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Longer and Heavier? Shorter and Heavier?

For Teachers K Standards
For many young children it seems obvious that longer objects are heavier than shorter objects. This assumption is put to the test as the class investigates the relationship between length and weight in a whole-group activity. Using a...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Weather Graph Data

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
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....
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Kiri's Mathematics Match Game

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

How Long

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Number of the Day

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Make Your Own Puzzle

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
Puzzling over what geometry activity 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...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Overlapping Rectangle

For Teachers K - 3rd Standards
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...
Activity
Illustrative Mathematics

Hundred Chart Digit Game

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Comparing Numbers

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
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 students take turns building and comparing...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Counting Circles II

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

“Crossing the Decade” Concentration

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
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Illustrative Mathematics

Making a Clock

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Equality Number Sentences

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Start/Stop Counting II

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
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...

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