Blog - Sum Math Fun

2 Easy Steps to a 100% No-Prep Time-Filler

This is a rich and easy time-filler or warm-up. I love having this in my teacher’s idea bag and ready to use at any time. There is absolutely no prep needed. But, you can also use the cute free structured printables/Google Slides I’ve created for you. 🤓 You can use this math activity as a time-filler or a warm-up activity. You can use it over and over again in a variety of ways. It can be differentiated to meet the needs of all levels. You can also vary this time-filler for your highest students to your most struggling, from first… Read More

{FREE} Fall Number Bond Worksheets – Cut & Glue

Do your Kindergarten or 1st grade students need practice with number bonds? Number bonds give a solid understanding of how numbers can be combined (composed) and split (decomposed). Addition and subtraction become more understandable once children understand the relationship between numbers. Familiarity with number bonds is very helpful in this understanding. With preschoolers and those entering kindergarten, we work with number bonds to 5 first and then number bonds to 10. As students progress, the number bonds learned in the early grades help with the addition of multi-digit numbers as well as subtraction of more complex numbers and estimations. Using… Read More

{Free} Multi-Digit Multiplication Worksheets

Would you like free multi-digit multiplication worksheets for your 3rd, 4th, or 5th graders? Do they miss steps as they solve problems and lack confidence and understanding? Sometimes we forget that not only do the Littles like to cut and glue but so do our big kids. To give my students extra practice with multi-digit multiplication, I created these cut and glue worksheets. And, they love them. They want more. I think your students will, too! After teaching students with hands-on base ten blocks and visuals ( the CPA model of concrete to pictorial to abstract), they needed lots of… Read More

3 Steps to Become a Passionate Teacher

Are you a passionate math teacher – science, reading, writing teacher? Or is there some content you teach just because it’s part of the elementary curriculum? I get it! I was right there with you. You can’t be an expert at everything. You can’t be passionate about all subjects. Can you? GROWING UP As a very young child, I loved messing around with words. They were fun. I frequently created similes. Of course, I was much too young to know they were similes. I grew up in north Louisiana. It was always hot and humid. So, I would say… Read More

Math Scavenger Hunts – Fun Fridays On Fire!

We need Fun Fridays! Teaching on Fridays can be rough. The kids are tired and often more cranky than any other day of the week. So am I! Mondays are usually fairly quiet days. But Fridays? We all seem to need something a little special to keep us learning and motivated. So-o-o, I created these get-up-and-move free solve-the-room task cards with a twist! They are perfect for your Fun Fridays! And, they are super fun because the “twist” is that they work as a math scavenger hunt! Since they raise the motivation and are great for review and practice, they… Read More

My Principal Wants To Know Why We’re Coloring In the Classroom

Aren’t color by number printables just a waste of valuable class time? Absolutely NOT! You are not “just coloring”!! When assigning color by number printables to your students, if you have felt guilty, like you weren’t giving your students work that was rigorous enough, keep reading to find out why you should include these pages in your teacher toolbox. 5 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD INCORPORATE COLOR BY NUMBER PRINTABLES INTO YOUR CLASS TIME REASON 1 By including color by number printables into class time, learning and practicing skills don’t have to be a chore. While boosting and reinforcing a variety… Read More

$free-math-sorts-small-group-warm-ups #mathsorts #smallgroups #mathworkshop$

Why You Should Use Math Sorts in Your Classroom

Are you a first-grade teacher? A third-grade teacher? A fifth-grade teacher? Regardless of what grade you teach – even high school! – your students should be sorting. Sorting is not just for toddlers and kindergartners. Here’s why — BUT WHY SPEND VALUABLE MATH TIME SORTING? Sorting falls under the algebra strand of mathematics and extends into data analysis and probability. But, it can be used in all mathematical strands. Sorting deepens and extends children’s thinking and understandings. As young children begin to notice patterns – a cry brings these results while a smile brings these – they then begin to… Read More

A {Free} Strategy Game – Poison

Need a math game that improves logical reasoning skills for your first grade, second grade, third grade, even fourth and fifth grade students? Try this free strategy game! Most games require strategy and have some luck built in. But not this free game. There is no luck. It is all about logic and strategy! There are many versions of this fun Poison Game. This is the one we start with. You may know this game as a variation of Nim. Although the origin of Nim is uncertain, many people say it probably came from a game in China called Jian… Read More