Math Zones

Organization	Planning	Zones	Resources	Rhymes	Activity Books

What are "Math Zones"? Are they different from centers?

Well the philosophy behind "Math Zones" is that there should be a separation between literacy and math time. Although in the younger grades many teachers do work on math skills during literacy time at our school we believe each learning time should be completely devoted to the particular topic of study. Since younger children often get confused we felt that saying "Math Centers" would make students think of their literacy activities. "Math Zones" was a better name for the activities students can complete during math class.

Please email me if you'd like to know more about a math zone and how it works.

How do you organize your zones? What zones do you use?

I have three baskets out in our Math Zones area of the room with activities corresponding to our learning objectives for each unit.

The first basket is contains student friendly math books students can read.
The second basket has independent and group math games focused on our unit of study.
(Each Zone is kept in pocket folders for easy storage and the directions are on the cover of the folder)
The third basket contains materials (dice, toothpicks, chips, shapes, etc.) and flash cards to support our unit of study.

How do you plan for the units you teach?

MCPS has 5 math units in second grade. Each unit has specific objectives and we are given a timeline to complete each unit by a specific date. MCPS has unit assessments for each unit already prepared and are secure materials so we backmap from our end date. I am very lucky because our school has staff development time for all the teachers teaching the same math level (3-first grade classes and 3-second grade classes) to plan together. When planning we all share strategies and materials that have helped us to teach each unit in the past.

Parent Unit Information:

Unit 1: Place Value
Unit 2: Geometry
Unit 3:Addition and Subtraction w/regrouping
Unit 4A: Fractions
Unit 4B: Measurement
Unit 5: Mult, Division, Time, & Money

Math Zones to Share (If you have have a zone you would like to share please email it to me and I would be happy to post it!)

Face Off (dice game)
Even Steven and Odd Todd
Hit the Deck (card game)
Watch Out Addition! (basic facts)
Addition Showdown (2 or 3 digits)
Number Patterns Game (+/-)
Place Value Game
Greater than, Less than, or Equal to Game
Solid Figure Search

Resources for the Classroom
A great resources to have in your classroom and for families to have at home is the Math to Learn (Gr 1-2), Math to Know (Gr 3-4) , and Math at Hand (Gr 5-6) series.
Math To Learn: A Mathematics Handbook
Math to Know: A Mathematics Handbook
Math at Hand: A Mathematics Handbook

Our Addition Rhyme
By Ms. Hilberg

Add the ones.
If the sum is 10 or more,
Make a ten and move it next door.

Add the tens.
If the sum is 10 or more,
Make a hundred and move it next door.

Add the hundreds.
If the sum is 10 or more,
Make a thousand and move it next door.

We could keep going with our rhyme,
But we won’t ‘cause there’s no time!

A Rounding Rhyme
(This rhyme will help you round numbers to the nearest ten.)

Look in the ones place. What do you see?
The number there is the key.

If the number is a 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4,
Go to the ten before.

If the number is a 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9,
Go up the number line.

Do you make up all your zones?

Of course not! Why reinvent the wheel when you don't have to. That's also why I don't have that many to share on my website. Below are some of the resource books I've used to create my math zones in the classroom! I keep all my zones in color coded pocket folders (even if some are made for shoeboxes and file folders) so I can easily store them by math unit.