5 Math Warm-Ups That Take 5 Minutes

Recently I had a great conversation with Angela Schelton, a 4th grade public school teacher and DynaMath subscriber in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We talked a lot about math warm-ups, and how she uses them in her classroom. Here are some of the field-tested strategies for incorporating math warm-ups into your lessons:

Education gurus—like Steve Leinwand, an analyst at the American Institutes of Research and former math teacher—encourage daily cumulative review at the beginning of each lesson to help students achieve math mastery.

It’s one of the most effective strategies for fostering the retention of critical skills, he said in his presentation at NCSM last spring.

During warm up or cumulative review time, you can also ask students what they notice and wonder about a question or math concept. If you do this already you are probably pleasantly surprised with the results!

Post a math problem at the beginning of class. Have students solve it individually. Then assign a student or small group leader to show their answer and problem-solving method to the whole class.

Present problems where students find the mistake in solving or determine which one doesn't belong. It’s a great way to introduce critical thinking and high order learning. Plus students love proving to their teacher that they’re right!

Students spend a majority of their day sitting. You can easily incorporate movements into your math lessons as a quick 5-minute warm-up or review.

Have students create acute and obtuse angles with their arms or play Stand Up/Sit Down with multiples. If the multiple is 6, and you call out 36, students have to stand up. If it’s not a multiple, like 35, they stay seated.