Winter Math Mats

Are your kiddos already distracted by the upcoming holiday breaks? Are you looking for fun and engaging ways for your kids to explore early math concepts? If so, then this Winter Themed Math Mat activity may be just what you are looking for!

This Math Mat Activity using a simple December Calendar Day meets Common Core Standards, too!

Each math mat begins with a December Calendar Day number.  Students can use a variety of mathematical models to create the given number.  This gives them hands on practice with number composition and decomposition, as they begin to form basic addition and subtraction fact families.

In this case, students are asked to show ways to make 5.  Using snap cubes, the student can use two different colored counters to show that 1 + 4 = 5 and 2+ 3 = 5 etc.

Common Core Standards Aligned:

K.OA.A.1: Represent addition and subtraction with objects, fingers, mental images, drawings¹, sounds (e.g., claps), acting out situations, verbal explanations, expressions, or equations.

K.OA.A.2: Solve addition and subtraction word problems, and add and subtract within 10, e.g., by using objects or drawings to represent the problem.

K.OA.A3: Decompose numbers less than or equal to 10 into pairs in more than one way, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record each decomposition by a drawing or equation (e.g., 5 = 2 + 3 and 5 = 4 + 1).

1.OA.B.3: Apply properties of operations as strategies to add and subtract.² Examples: If 8 + 3 = 11 is known, then 3 + 8 = 11 is also known. (Commutative property of addition.) To add 2 + 6 + 4, the second two numbers can be added to make a ten, so 2 + 6 + 4 = 2 + 10 = 12. (Associative property of addition.)

1.OA.B.4: Understand subtraction as an unknown-addend problem. For example, subtract 10 – 8 by finding the number that makes 10 when added to 8.

K.OA.A.5: Fluently add and subtract within 5.

1.OA.c.5: Relate counting to addition and subtraction (e.g., by counting on 2 to add 2).

1.OA.C.6: Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10. Use strategies such as counting on; making ten (e.g., 8 + 6 = 8 + 2 + 4 = 10 + 4 = 14); decomposing a number leading to a ten (e.g., 13 – 4 = 13 – 3 – 1 = 10 – 1 = 9); using the relationship between addition and subtraction (e.g., knowing that 8 + 4 = 12, one knows 12 – 8 = 4); and creating equivalent but easier or known sums (e.g., adding 6 + 7 by creating the known equivalent 6 + 6 + 1 = 12 + 1 = 13).

2.OA.A.1: Use addition and subtraction within 100 to solve one- and two-step word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.

Created by Knowledge Bound team members in Windsor, CO.

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