Five-Minute Math Class Warm-Ups: Adding Time Intervals

Making every minute count in your math class means giving your students something to do the moment they enter the room. It also means letting them know your expectations so no time is wasted with repeating instructions.

At this time of the school year, students may need to relearn some of the procedures you (hopefully) taught them at the beginning of the year.

So we wanted to give you some tips for finishing the year on a positive note. How wonderful would it be if your students were on task before the bell rings, already beginning the work of learning mathematics (or whichever subject you teach).

Keep Students on Task

Excel Math Number Line with Time Intervals

However you begin your class, discipline problems are kept to a minimum when your students know they must be on task from the minute they enter the room.

Having control of the class, filling each moment with well-prepared activities, and setting up a structured way to begin the lesson that they can count on each day provides students with a sense of security and familiarity. 

According to Harry Wong, educational speaker from Mountainview, California, "You would not expect a truck driver to haul an expensive load without first making sure he knew how to drive the truck. Neither can you expect students to succeed if they do not know the routines and procedures of your class."

There's no time like the present to get your students on task before class starts.  Read more from Harry and Rosemary Wong at http://teachers.net/gazette/wong.html.

Flower Clocks from Excel Math

Decide on a Warm-Up Activity
Here is a well-thought-out math class warm-up routine from the Teaching Channel: https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/class-warm-up-routine 
You can easily adapt Laura Alcala's "Favorite No" warm-up activity for elementary math classes. Try it out with the clock exercises below and let us know how it worked with your students.

Flower Clocks
If your students need practice telling time, print out these Flower Clock patterns onto heavy paper or cardboard (or let students glue a clock pattern onto a paper plate) and give one to each child along with scissors, a cardboard arrow shape, and a brass paper fastener. 

Read more . . .

If you have additional math warm-ups you've used with your class, feel free to share them in the comment section immediately following this post. (Click on the word comment to begin.)

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