Morning Math Routines

Many teachers incorporate morning math routines into their daily math lesson.  The most popular activities include posting the date on the calendar, adding a straw or penny to the days in school count, tallying the day's weather, choosing coins for the date, etc.  These every day routines develop real life math skills and reinforce our base ten number system throughout the 180 day school year.

Mathwire offers a short description of the most common morning math routines for teachers to check out.  Your math series may also prescribe many of the same activities so be sure to read through the introduction of your teacher's manual for more information.  


Teachers use many different charts and organizational practices to streamline these routines, so Mathwire added a Morning Math Routines: Photo Gallery.  This photo gallery reflects how different teachers integrate these routines into real classrooms.  Teachers use many charts and varied organizational methods to provide visual cues for these important mathematical routines.  Hopefully, this photo gallery will provide ideas for teachers looking for different ways to integrate these mathematical routines into daily classroom bulletin boards.

Most importantly, however, is the student role in morning math routines.  Your goal, as a teacher, is to introduce and structure these activities so that students become the active participants.  Some teachers post names next to each station so that student leads the activity for the day or week.  Remember, that these activities are designed to build number sense in students, so it is imperative that students are in control and have the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding and proficiency in number operations.  Kindergarteners are capable of leading their peers and almost all students enjoy the opportunity to be teacher for a day, so let go and let the students take charge.  You'll learn a lot by observing.