Learning Made Fun
  • Blog
  • Teacher Resources
    • Math Mysteries >
      • GRADE 1 Math Mysteries
      • GRADE 2 Math Mysteries
      • GRADE 3 Math Mysteries
      • GRADE 4 Math Mysteries
      • GRADE 5 Math Mysteries
      • GRADE 6 Math Mysteries
      • GRADE 7 Math Mysteries
      • GRADE 8 Math Mysteries
    • Reading & Literacy Mysteries
    • Math Projects
    • Math Quests
    • Free Resources
  • Shop
  • Video Library
    • Math Mystery Video Hooks >
      • Case of the 100 Missing Treats
      • Case of The Abducted Alien
      • Case of The Alien Apocalypse
      • Case of The Angry Adder
      • Case of The Bee Bandits
      • Case of the Christmas Chaos
      • Case of the Cursed Classrooms
      • Case of The Disappearing Donuts
      • Case of The Divided Dragon's Division Review
      • Case of The Dream Snatcher
      • Case of The Egg Thief
      • Case of The Forgetful Pharaoh
      • Case of The Furious Falls Winds
      • Case of the Giant Goblin
      • Case of The Gobbler's Curse
      • Case of The Graduation Gremlins
      • Case of the Great Zoo Escape
      • Case of The Greedy Gnome
      • Case of the Halloween Heist
      • Case of the Heartbroken Heroes
      • Case of the Invisible Illusionist - Integers Math Mystery Activity
      • Case of the Jumpy Jack-O-Lanterns Halloween Math Mystery
      • Case of The Jungle Joker
      • Case of The Kidnapped Groundhog
      • Case of The Litterbug
      • Case of the Lost Leprechaun
      • Case of the Magnificent Growth Mindset
      • Case of The Mathattan Meltdown
      • Case of Mean Mountain
      • Case of The Millennium Bug
      • Case of the Mirror Madness
      • Case of The Misplaced Pot of Gold
      • Case of the Missing Campers
      • Case of the Missing Macaw
      • Case of The Monster Mix-Up
      • Case of the Never-Ending Rain
      • Case of the Outback Outlaw
      • Case of The Phantom Phoenix
      • Case of the Pickpocketing Pirate
      • Case of The Poisonous Pizzas
      • Case of The Puzzled Pirate
      • Case of The Robot Robbery
      • Case of The Rogue Runner
      • Case Of The Rotten Eggs
      • Case of The School Invaders
      • Case of The Selfish Elf
      • Case of The Shogun's Sword
      • Case of The Snowman Army
      • Case of The Sticky Bank Burglary
      • Case of The Super Bad Superhero
      • Case of the Thanksgiving Thief
      • Case of The Thankless Turkey
      • Case of The Time Traveling Troll
      • Case of The Tricking Treat
      • Case of The Valentine Villain
      • Case of The Vengeful Vampire
      • Case of The Zombie Elves
    • Junior Reading Mysteries >
      • Bo-Peep's Stolen Sheep
      • Broken Beanstalk
      • Miss Muffet's Missing Muffins
      • Mother Hubbard's Robbed Cupboard
      • Poisoned Porridge
      • Ruined Ruby Slippers
      • Spooky Singer
      • The Ever After Emerald
      • The Greedy Guest
    • Reading Mystery Video Hooks >
      • Burrow Slime
      • EGGpocalypse
      • Fool's Gold Read Mystery
      • Forest Grime - Reading Mystery
      • Haunting Hat - Reading Mystery
      • Humpty's Fall Reading Mystery
      • Knight's Tail
      • Poisoned Valentine
      • Rescue Rudolph
      • Stolen Time
      • Teacher Toads - Reading Mystery
      • Turkey Trouble!
      • Twinkle's Lost Shine
      • Which Witch? - Reading Mystery
      • Wizard Blizzard
    • Math Quest Video Hooks >
      • Escape Monster Mansion
      • Over The Rainbow Math Quest
      • Raiders of The Lost Egg
      • Redbeard's Rebellion
      • Reindeer Roundup
      • School Jungle Jam
      • The Heartless Queen
      • The Terrible Turkey Takeover
    • A-Z Letter Detectives Video Hook >
      • The Case of the Alien's Apples
      • The Case of the Banana Bandit
      • The Case of the Cat's Cookies
      • The Case of the Dragon's Diamonds
      • The Case of the Eagle's Eggs
      • The Case of the Frog's Flowers
      • The Case of the Ghost's Gumballs
      • The Case of the Hippo's Hat
      • The Case of the Iguana's Ice Cream
      • The Case of the Jaguar's Jellybeans
      • The Case of the Kangaroo's Kite
      • The Case of the Lion's Lollipops
      • The Case of the Monster's Map
      • The Case of the Ninja's Necklace
      • The Case of the Octopus's Oar
      • The Case of the Pirate's Pizza
      • The Case of the Queen's Quiver
      • The Case of the Robot's Rocket
      • The Case of the Sloth's Skateboard
      • The Case of the Turtle's Toys
      • The Case of the Unicorn's Umbrella
      • The Case of the Vampire's Violin
      • The Case of the Wizard's Wand
      • The Case of the X-Hero's X-Ray
      • The Case of the Yeti's Yo-Yo
      • The Case of the Zebra's Zucchinnis
    • Background Music >
      • Back to School Mystery Detective Music
      • Christmas Mystery Music
      • Easter Mystery Spy Background Music
      • Halloween Background Music
      • St Patrick's Day Background Music for the Classroom
      • Thanksgiving Mystery Background Music
      • Valentine's Day Mystery Spy Music
  • TPT
  • About
  • Privacy Policy

A Great Simple Mental Math Warm Up Activity

5/8/2017

0 Comments

 
If you are looking for an easy mental math warm up activity that can be used with any grade level, will get brains working, is open-ended, will appeal to all abilities, and doesn't require photocopying, then you may like to try this super simple mental math warm up activity that became part of my regular routine during math time with all of my classes. 

First, instruct students to open up to an empty page in their math workbooks OR give them a blank piece of paper. 

Next, give them a number - now this can vary depending on the grade level. For second grade you may choose a simple single or double digit number, but for sixth grade you might choose a much larger number or even go with a fraction or decimal number to make it more challenging. 
​
In the example below I have chosen the number 25.

Picture
Picture
In the image above, it shows a guide to give your students some idea of what you expect and how they could go about this activity. I recommend giving your students a guide for the first few times doing this just to help them get the idea of the activity. You could use post-it notes (like in the image) if you wanted to do a group effort page to begin with, and then get students to place them on a page to share their ideas.  You could also just get students to split the page into four sections around the number in the middle if you prefer to keep it independent work.
Allocate four 'guidelines' you want students to follow when making the number. For example:
1 - Use operations to make 25 (add, subtract, multiply or divide)
2 - Include decimals or fractions (or make it a challenger box appropriate for your grade level)
3 - Draw it
4 - Make word problems

Now I expect at least one thing done for every box from all of my students, but the point of the activity is to push them to make 25 in as many ways as possible in a set time frame (I give my students 10 minutes). Once the ten minutes is up, I invite students to share one of their ideas with the rest of the class. I encourage and praise ways that seem super creative and stand out from the flock.

All students I have done this with start to love it once they get the hang of it. In fact, it almost always seemed to give several students a sense of competitiveness as they tried to get the most problems down on their page and come up with the most creative ways. You will be amazed how some students may grow in their way of approaching the task every time it is done. 

After a few times with the guidelines, I then no longer have to tell my students to do the four sections. Instead, I give them complete free open range and challenge them to come up with the most interesting ways to make the number! I get them to simply set up a page in their workbook as in the image below, give the number, set the timer and off they go. I always state that I expect to see the page looking full just to nudge on the few that need it. When it comes to reflection time (we only spend a few minutes on this), I encourage students to share their most creative idea to make the number. The encouragement and sharing (I found) helped those few students who were stuck on only ever doing the simple stuff like 99 + 1, 98 + 2, to move on to trying to think of other ways to do it.    
Picture
It really is a simple and straightforward activity, that can also be a great 5-10 minute filler if you have a gap in math time. Every class I have done this with, despite their grade level, actually end up enjoying this math activity. It is something every student can attempt, the answer is always right as long as the answer is the given number. Better yet, their brains get a good warm up as you transition on to the main part of your math lesson. 

PLUS . . . if you ever find you need a few more minutes to prepare for an upcoming lesson this also is a great yet meaningful emergency activity to do while you get your stuff sorted out. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

      Newsletter Sign Up

    Subscribe to Newsletter

    Categories

    All
    Addition
    Alphabet Activities & Ideas
    Anchor Charts
    Assessment
    Back To School
    Behavior Management
    Books
    Brain Breaks
    Character Development
    Christmas Activities And Resources
    Classroom Management
    Digital Escape Room Game
    Distance Learning
    Division
    Easter Activities
    End Of Year
    For Parents
    Fractions
    Fun Lessons
    Fun Mystery Games And Activities
    GIVEAWAYS
    Google Classroom
    Halloween
    Icebreakers
    Inclusive Classrooms
    Keep Minds Active
    Math Activities
    Math Centers
    Math Games
    Math Mysteries
    Math Posters
    Math Tricks
    Math Videos
    More Teacher Stuff
    Mystery Logic Puzzles
    Mystery Prompts
    Patterns
    Place Value
    Positive Classroom
    Posters
    Preschool Activities
    Puzzles
    Reading Activities
    Reading Mysteries
    Student Motvation
    Teacher Wellbeing
    Teaching Ideas
    Teaching Strategies
    Technical Help
    TPT Products Free & Paid
    Writing Activities

    Picture
    CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A FREE MATH MYSTERY!

    Author

    A 21st century School Teacher, Mother, and Wife.

    Follow Mrs J!
    Picture
    CLICK HERE FOR MORE MATH MYSTERIES

    This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies.

    Opt Out of Cookies
TPT Store: Mrs J's Resource Creations
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Blog
  • Teacher Resources
    • Math Mysteries >
      • GRADE 1 Math Mysteries
      • GRADE 2 Math Mysteries
      • GRADE 3 Math Mysteries
      • GRADE 4 Math Mysteries
      • GRADE 5 Math Mysteries
      • GRADE 6 Math Mysteries
      • GRADE 7 Math Mysteries
      • GRADE 8 Math Mysteries
    • Reading & Literacy Mysteries
    • Math Projects
    • Math Quests
    • Free Resources
  • Shop
  • Video Library
    • Math Mystery Video Hooks >
      • Case of the 100 Missing Treats
      • Case of The Abducted Alien
      • Case of The Alien Apocalypse
      • Case of The Angry Adder
      • Case of The Bee Bandits
      • Case of the Christmas Chaos
      • Case of the Cursed Classrooms
      • Case of The Disappearing Donuts
      • Case of The Divided Dragon's Division Review
      • Case of The Dream Snatcher
      • Case of The Egg Thief
      • Case of The Forgetful Pharaoh
      • Case of The Furious Falls Winds
      • Case of the Giant Goblin
      • Case of The Gobbler's Curse
      • Case of The Graduation Gremlins
      • Case of the Great Zoo Escape
      • Case of The Greedy Gnome
      • Case of the Halloween Heist
      • Case of the Heartbroken Heroes
      • Case of the Invisible Illusionist - Integers Math Mystery Activity
      • Case of the Jumpy Jack-O-Lanterns Halloween Math Mystery
      • Case of The Jungle Joker
      • Case of The Kidnapped Groundhog
      • Case of The Litterbug
      • Case of the Lost Leprechaun
      • Case of the Magnificent Growth Mindset
      • Case of The Mathattan Meltdown
      • Case of Mean Mountain
      • Case of The Millennium Bug
      • Case of the Mirror Madness
      • Case of The Misplaced Pot of Gold
      • Case of the Missing Campers
      • Case of the Missing Macaw
      • Case of The Monster Mix-Up
      • Case of the Never-Ending Rain
      • Case of the Outback Outlaw
      • Case of The Phantom Phoenix
      • Case of the Pickpocketing Pirate
      • Case of The Poisonous Pizzas
      • Case of The Puzzled Pirate
      • Case of The Robot Robbery
      • Case of The Rogue Runner
      • Case Of The Rotten Eggs
      • Case of The School Invaders
      • Case of The Selfish Elf
      • Case of The Shogun's Sword
      • Case of The Snowman Army
      • Case of The Sticky Bank Burglary
      • Case of The Super Bad Superhero
      • Case of the Thanksgiving Thief
      • Case of The Thankless Turkey
      • Case of The Time Traveling Troll
      • Case of The Tricking Treat
      • Case of The Valentine Villain
      • Case of The Vengeful Vampire
      • Case of The Zombie Elves
    • Junior Reading Mysteries >
      • Bo-Peep's Stolen Sheep
      • Broken Beanstalk
      • Miss Muffet's Missing Muffins
      • Mother Hubbard's Robbed Cupboard
      • Poisoned Porridge
      • Ruined Ruby Slippers
      • Spooky Singer
      • The Ever After Emerald
      • The Greedy Guest
    • Reading Mystery Video Hooks >
      • Burrow Slime
      • EGGpocalypse
      • Fool's Gold Read Mystery
      • Forest Grime - Reading Mystery
      • Haunting Hat - Reading Mystery
      • Humpty's Fall Reading Mystery
      • Knight's Tail
      • Poisoned Valentine
      • Rescue Rudolph
      • Stolen Time
      • Teacher Toads - Reading Mystery
      • Turkey Trouble!
      • Twinkle's Lost Shine
      • Which Witch? - Reading Mystery
      • Wizard Blizzard
    • Math Quest Video Hooks >
      • Escape Monster Mansion
      • Over The Rainbow Math Quest
      • Raiders of The Lost Egg
      • Redbeard's Rebellion
      • Reindeer Roundup
      • School Jungle Jam
      • The Heartless Queen
      • The Terrible Turkey Takeover
    • A-Z Letter Detectives Video Hook >
      • The Case of the Alien's Apples
      • The Case of the Banana Bandit
      • The Case of the Cat's Cookies
      • The Case of the Dragon's Diamonds
      • The Case of the Eagle's Eggs
      • The Case of the Frog's Flowers
      • The Case of the Ghost's Gumballs
      • The Case of the Hippo's Hat
      • The Case of the Iguana's Ice Cream
      • The Case of the Jaguar's Jellybeans
      • The Case of the Kangaroo's Kite
      • The Case of the Lion's Lollipops
      • The Case of the Monster's Map
      • The Case of the Ninja's Necklace
      • The Case of the Octopus's Oar
      • The Case of the Pirate's Pizza
      • The Case of the Queen's Quiver
      • The Case of the Robot's Rocket
      • The Case of the Sloth's Skateboard
      • The Case of the Turtle's Toys
      • The Case of the Unicorn's Umbrella
      • The Case of the Vampire's Violin
      • The Case of the Wizard's Wand
      • The Case of the X-Hero's X-Ray
      • The Case of the Yeti's Yo-Yo
      • The Case of the Zebra's Zucchinnis
    • Background Music >
      • Back to School Mystery Detective Music
      • Christmas Mystery Music
      • Easter Mystery Spy Background Music
      • Halloween Background Music
      • St Patrick's Day Background Music for the Classroom
      • Thanksgiving Mystery Background Music
      • Valentine's Day Mystery Spy Music
  • TPT
  • About
  • Privacy Policy