This morning I took a walk through the classrooms to see what transpired during the various math periods around our elementary level.
In K/1, students were either playing "roll and record", a game in which they roll two dice and record the total of the two showing faces -- thereby providing practice with number recognition, static addition, probability, and record keeping -- or creating simple patterns ("AB" or "ABC") using snap cubes and then coloring in pattern charts to match their snap cube chains -- practicing their pattern sense, visual matching, and visual memory.
In 2nd grade, students were completing a series of problems that called on them to use skip-counting, or counting in groups (a precursor to multiplication) along with pattern prediction. They were presented with some information ("each floor of the building has X rooms on it"), and a chart containing two columns, one each for the floor # and the total number of rooms in the building up to that floor. They used grid paper and snap cubes to help themselves count by groups when necessary.
In 3rd grade, students investigated how to find the perimeter and area of shapes that don't lend themselves to easy measurement. They each traced the outline of one of their feet onto centimeter graph paper, and were then asked to find ways to calculate the perimeter and area of that shape.
In 4th grade, students practiced with multiplication math facts, completing a sheet of problems without using any kinesthetic or material tools to help them calculate. Finding just the right balance of repetition and novelty is an important part of the learning process (for more on this, check out John Medina's website on Brain Rules).
In 5th grade, students practiced their understanding of percents by writing and giving each other problems set in restaurants, where the goal was to calculate the amount of money required for a tip of a certain percentage, because creating problems is one of the strongest possible performances of mastery.
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