Interactive Math Mat Warm-Ups for Upper Grades

 

I started using math mats as a quick warm-up activity last year for metric conversions.  It was a HUGE hit for all of us in the class.  The amount of visualizing and processing that happened in a short amount of time was amazing, and my students loved the interactive nature of it.  I loved that it gave me a quick comprehension check, and I could easily take note of which students needed a little extra reinforcement, and which concepts could benefit from more teaching.

I shared this math warm-up idea on my Instagram account in March last year.  I made up a "Which is Greater" and "Which is Less" page and then wrote down a variety of measurements on little flashcards I cut up.  I also gave each student a little card with A on one side and B on the other.  For a quick warm-up (or review at the end of the lesson), I projected the math mat under my document camera.  I had all the measurement cards shuffled together in a pile.  Randomly flip two cards, saying, "Which is Greater - A or B?"  Give a little wait time and then have students hold up their cards at the same time with the correct letter facing out so you can see (if they hold up their cards in front of their chest and not in the air, it helps to not "sway" other answers in the class).  

We used this warm-up at the beginning of every class during our measurement unit with great success ... and then ... COVID.  lol.  So ... when I started to plan for this year (returning face to face in September ... have a wee bit of nervous energy to burn), I knew I wanted to create a set of math mats for place value, as well.

These new Interactive Math Mat Resources can be used as math warm-ups or reviews, with a small group in a guided math lesson, or as a math station.  In these resources, I have included 6 different math mats to compare and order quantities, A/B and True/False answer cards for the students, and a huge quantity of number cards already prepped for you.  Just print and cut.  (I store these cards in a plastic baggie and use a binder clip to clip the bag to the math mats, which I laminate).  I have also included entrance and exit slips for all of the concepts covered in the resources so you can track students' progress at the beginning at end of the unit or mini-unit.

These math mat resources also come in a digital/printable combo version, if you're returning virtually this fall.  The digital resource contains a variety of math mats and interactive number cards so students can drag the cards over to complete the inequality statements.

You can take a peek at my newest Math Mat Resources HERE, or click on the pictures of the individual resources below.

The Place Value Math Mat Resource contains a set of number cards for decimals and whole numbers (from the thousandths to the millions).  Both sets contain a variety of numbers in standard, written, and expanded form.  

The Metric Units Math Mat Resource contains three sets of quantity cards - for length, capacity and mass.  Metric prefixes include:  mm, cm, dm, m, km, mg, g, kg, mL, L, and kL.  

The Fraction Math Mat Resource contains mats for two different fraction skills:  Comparing Fractions and Operations with Fractions.  Fraction cards are in picture, number, and word form.

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