Third Day of Math - Grade 4

It's time to get down to business. the first half of the day will be dedicated to Math Facts Baseball. It's been a hit in my class for years! Each student takes four three-minute timed tests: addition, subtractions, multiplication, and division. Then they go up to bat. For each test that's 100% correct, they get a base. One test correct is a single; two, a double; three, a triple, and four, a home run. 

If you want to learn more about this fun, motivational game,

head over to my blog post from July 29th.

After Math Facts Baseball, we begin our first math unit: Place Value. By this time, I've figured out which students in my class need to stay with basic level mathematics and which are ready for a challenge. Two sets of parallel activities and worksheets - - - one set reaching to 999,999 and the other to 999,999,999 - - - allow me to differentiate appropriately.

(Use a little Beyonce to teach this lesson.

Click here to find out how!)

The first topic is reading large numbers, which is easy if you break it down into periods.

Several years ago, I shared detailed ideas for teaching place value in my blog. If you'd like to read more, simply click on a topic:

• Reading Multi-Digit Whole Numbers
• Building Multi-Digit Whole Numbers
• Introducing Multi-Digit Whole Numbers in Standard Form, Words, and Expanded Form
• Practicing Multi-Digit Whole Numbers in Standard Form, Words, and Expanded Form
• Rounding Multi-Digit Whole Numbers

Place value is the key to our number system and an essential building block for working with numbers in base ten. Once we get this down, the rest of the year is a snap! ;- )

Enjoy!

Brenda

P.S. Would you like a free PowerPoint presentation that explains how I start the year in mathematics? Click here!