4th grade math centers Archives

4th Grade Test Prep: How to Prepare Students for Success

April 20, 2023 by Krejci Creations

State testing can bring a mix of emotions to both students and teachers. It’s normal to feel stressed, anxious, and worried about these high-stakes tests. On top of that, planning for test prep can bring its own set of challenges. You want to review ALL THE THINGS in a fun and meaningful way…but how? Let’s just say it takes some TEAM-work!

All-Inclusive Test Prep Kit

This 4th grade math test prep kit includes ready-to-teach lessons and activities to use the week before testing.

It covers almost all 4th grade math standards with an emphasis on the more challenging skills that students need to review.

Whole Group Review Lessons

There are 4 interactive PowerPoint lessons to use for whole group instruction. These review lessons focus on heavily tested skills like multi-step word problems, line plots, and fractions. Students can use dry erase boards or math notebooks to follow along.

Take a look at the video previews below for a sample of each lesson!

Day 1 Skills:

1. Add and Subtract Mixed Numbers

2. Line Plots

3. Fractions and Decimals

Day 2 Skills:

1. 2D Figures

2. Measuring Angles

3. Units of Measure

Day 3 Skills:

1. Multi-step Word Problems

2. Place Value Relationships

3. Patterns

Day 4 Skills:

1. Factors and Multiples

2. Prime and Composite Numbers

3. Fraction Comparison and Equivalence

TEAM-Work Stations

After each mini-lesson, students break into TEAM-work stations that include a combination of independent and partner activities.

Their goal is to earn as many checkmarks as possible by completing the assigned tasks.

An editable spreadsheet is provided to help group students. The letters E, A, and M are moveable, so you can rotate the letters each day and easily move students to a new station.

What Do TEAM-Work Stations Look Like?

⭐Teacher Check Station:
Your job is to check in with students and help as needed. Your students will be working on challenging concepts, so they will need your help. Because of this, I do not recommend pulling small groups during this time.

✎ When you witness students working hard and staying on task to complete assignments, check the box in their “Teacher Check” column.

✎ In addition, you can use this time to check their work for accuracy using the provided answer keys.

⭐Electronics Station: Self-Checking Boom Cards
This is an independent station. Students have 4 sets of Test Prep Boom Cards on the topics listed below.

Boom Card Decks:
✎ Area and Perimeter

✎ Long Division

✎ Factors and Multiples

✎ Add and Subtract Fractions and Mixed Numbers

⭐At Your Seat Station: Printable Worksheets (all word problems)
This is another independent station. Students have 4 practice worksheets on the topics listed below.

Skills Include:
✎ Area and Perimeter

✎ 1 and 2-Digit Multiplication and 1-Digit Division

✎ Multiplicative Comparisons

✎ Interpret the Remainder

⭐Math with a Partner Station: Printable Worksheets
This is a partner station. Students have 4 practice worksheets on the topics listed below.

Skills Include:
✎ Add and Subtract Mixed Numbers

✎ Place Value Relationships

✎ Rounding Whole Numbers

✎ Multiply Fractions by Whole Numbers

Additional Test Prep Resources

Test-Taking Strategy Posters
Students can become overwhelmed if there are too many test-taking strategies to remember. Therefore, I have students focus on these 5 simple test-taking tips. These posters are included in the test prep kit…but click the button to grab them for free!

Tips For The Teacher

Tip #1: Set high expectations for your students, and make it clear that rushed and inaccurate work won’t earn them a check mark. I did not check the box if there were two or more errors on one activity. I instead circled the box and had students go back and correct their mistakes. Once the mistakes were fixed, they earned their check.

Tip #2: It’s important to set goals for students to work toward. For instance, if they complete 5 activities, they get a piece of candy. If they complete 10, they get a prize from the treasure chest. If they complete all 16, they get extra recess…whatever works for you! This will help motivate students to persevere when things get tough.

More teacher tips are included to help your TEAM-work stations run smoothly!

You Can Do This!

I used these math test prep lessons and activities with my 4th graders for many years and can tell you firsthand how well they work to prepare students! Grab this 4th Grade Math Test Prep Kit now and let the fun begin!

For more information on this test prep kit, check out Episode 32 of Elementary Math Chat and watch my Instagram Reel below to see this kit in action!

I wish you all the best as you head into state testing. No matter the results, you are a ROCK STAR teacher!

Until next time,

Happy Teaching!

P.S. If you’re interested in even more test prep Boom Cards, my TEST PREP BUNDLE covers all 13 units of 4th grade math. You can also read this BLOG POST for more info!

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Holiday-Themed Math: 4th Grade Activities to Spread Cheer

November 20, 2022 by Krejci Creations

'Tis the Season for Holiday Fun!

With December right around the corner, it’s time to prepare for a month of holiday festivities! Help spread Christmas cheer by incorporating these holiday-themed math activities into your classroom.

Let’s first acknowledge how CUTE this clipart is…I am obsessed! Your students will also be as they work through these Boom Cards on comparing fractions.

Boom Cards require NO PREP–just send students the link on Google Classroom, Schoology, Boom Learning, or whatever platform you use. Since they are self-checking, students receive immediate feedback after each question. They truly do learn from Boom Cards!

Another option is to use Boom Cards in your whole group lesson or display a few questions for a warm-up activity.

There are more holiday-themed math decks on factor pairs, simplest form, and converting improper fractions and mixed numbers.

Holiday-Themed Math Games

Another way to add a touch of holiday cheer to your classroom is with games. Games work well as a math station or choice board activity. Students love playing them, especially when they are decorated in all things Christmas.

Holiday-Themed Math Crafts

Think Christmas crafts are for primary students only? Think again! These Christmas factor trees reinforce prime and composite numbers and extend into prime factorization.

This festive craft even comes with its very own “O Factor Tree” lyrics! Read this blog post for more info!

Holiday-Themed Math Centers

Finally, incorporate holiday-themed resources into your math centers. Task cards, clip cards, and matching activities are my go-to resources for small group centers.

1. Task cards are extremely versatile, easy to differentiate, and provide meaningful practice for students. Since they only solve one card at a time, task cards don’t feel overwhelming like a worksheet sometimes does.

2. Clip cards are an effective resource because of their self-checking feature. Students can use paper clips, clothes pins, a dry-erase marker, or their fingers to clip and check their answers. They can also be used for quiz-quiz-trade, one of my favorite cooperative learning structures!

3. Matching activities have a game-like feel to them, which students love. This festive activity has students match the fractions on the colored ornaments to their simplest form on the tree.

The level of difficulty varies within the trees (tree #1 is the least difficult and tree #10 is the most challenging), therefore allowing students to work at different levels. For a lower prep activity, use the digital version instead!

Want to know more about these holiday-themed math activities? Shop the Christmas section within my TPT store for detailed descriptions, previews, and teacher testimonials.

Until next time,

Happy Holidays!

P.S. Need holiday party and gift ideas for your upper elementary students? I share all of that and more in Episode 21 of Elementary Math Chat! Episode 21: 10 Holiday Party and Gift Ideas for Upper Elementary Students

Math Games – 3 Reasons Why I Switched From Printable to Digital

June 7, 2022 by Krejci Creations

Walk into my classroom on any given day and you’ll see students playing math games. Games spark instant engagement and are a great way to practice math concepts. They teach students important social skills and provide opportunities to build relationships with their peers. Simply put, games are fun…and we want students to have fun, right?

Playing Games in a Pandemic

The pandemic forced me to rethink how I implemented math games in my classroom. Early on, students were not allowed to share materials, so playing a typical board game was out of the question. I was determined to find a way to provide these activities for my students. If there was ever a need for play in the classroom, it was during the pandemic.

Once I figured out how to embed dice in Google Slides, I added game pieces and set the game board as the background. Not only was this fairly simple, but my students also loved playing digital games! As I watched them play, I began to see the benefits of going digital.

Digital vs. Printable

There are 3 main reasons why I prefer digital math games over printable ones. First, all materials (dice, game pieces) are embedded, making them a NO PREP resource and mess-free!

Second, if students don’t finish playing in one class period, they can pick up where they left off the next day and actually finish the game. Students often run out of time with printable games and never finish playing.

The third thing I love about digital games is that I can view their progress at any time and even comment on their game. This creates more accountability and ownership than they had with printable math games.

Bump Game - A classroom Favorite

In this factor game, students roll two dice, add them together, and locate that number on the table. They then cover a baseball which shows a factor of that number. Students love this game because of the ability to “bump” their opponent’s game piece off the board when they also play that space.

However, once a player has two game pieces covering one space, that space is locked and cannot be bumped. The first player to place all 10 of their game pieces on the board wins!

Digital > Printable

Digital games solved every single problem I had with printable games. I no longer had students playing around with materials or throwing dice across the room. Gone were the days of game pieces being spread all over the floor (and so often never put away). Games did not become damaged from poor treatment. Once I went digital, I never went back!

All math games are created using Google Slides, making them super easy to assign to students. I’ve used Google Classroom as well as Schoology, and both platforms are teacher-friendly when it comes to assigning games.

If you haven’t used digital math games, I hope I’ve convinced you to give them a shot! They are perfect for math choice boards and early finishers, and can even be sent home to play as a family.

Click HERE to visit my TPT store where you’ll find over 40 fourth-grade math games to choose from!

If games are your thing, then Episode 18 of Elementary Math Chat is a must-listen! I share 7 review games to play in the classroom, and you can listen HERE or on your preferred listening app!

Until next time,
Happy Teaching!

-Annamarie

P.S. If you like digital resources, read this BLOG POST all about digital Boom Cards!

1-Digit Multiplication: Why Teach More Than One Method?

September 5, 2018 by Krejci Creations

1-digit multiplication is one of my absolute favorite skills to teach! For starters, I love that we now teach students more than one way to multiply. This is so powerful and helps students connect with the true meaning behind the skill.

In addition, once they see the patterns in 1-digit multiplication, they can go deep. I love walking around to my early finishers and adding a few digits to their problem to keep them engaged and challenged. Students begin doing this on their own to challenge themselves!

1-Digit Multiplication Method #1: Expanded Form

The strategy I begin with is using expanded form to multiply. I love this method because it allows students to work with friendly numbers and is fairly concrete.

Since they’ve already learned how to write a number in expanded form, this method comes naturally to them. However, I never assume all students will master this concept, so I use these Boom Cards as a formative assessment.

1-digit multiplication method #2: Area Model

I didn’t always teach the area model method with 1-digit multiplication. However, I found it so effective with 2-digit multiplication, I decided to give it a try.

As you can see in this area model multiplication work mat, this method is a natural next step after using expanded form and helps students better organize their work. The only difference is that students draw an area model to multiply the expanded form.

Begin with 2 by 1-digit multiplication and work your way up to 4 by 1-digit multiplication problems. Students will begin to see patterns and build confidence as they solve more challenging problems.

This fun and festive Halloween-themed deck combines Estimation with Area Model Multiplication. If you teach 1-digit multiplication methods in October, this set of Boom Cards would be the perfect math center!

1-Digit Multiplication Method #3: Partial Product

The next 1-digit multiplication method I teach is the partial product method. This is a bit more abstract but still allows students to work with friendly numbers. Since they already learned expanded form and area model multiplication, they have a better understanding of how partial products work.

I love using these color-coded task cards for small group instruction. Half of the cards are color-coded for guidance, and the other half are open-ended. They also progress in difficulty for quick differentiation.

By the way, does the sound of differentiating math centers intimidate you? Check out Episodes 10-12 of Elementary Math Chat for help! There was so much to cover that I had to break it down into 3 episodes!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

1-Digit Multiplication Method #4: Standard Algorithm

The last 1-digit multiplication method I teach is the standard algorithm. Most students choose this strategy in the end, and I’m okay with that! We want students to use the most efficient strategy, and the standard algorithm is by far the most efficient.

This method is more abstract, but since students first learned with concrete strategies, they can now apply their understanding to the traditional algorithm.

If you are a fan of task cards, grab this free set of 1-digit multiplication task cards by clicking the pink button. Check your email for your freebie!

1-Digit Multiplication Formative Assessments

Boom Cards are my go-to for gathering valuable data. Since they are digital, all students need is a link and they can access the resource on any digital device. This is about as LOW PREP as you can get!

They are also self-checking, which means students know after each problem if they’ve answered correctly. That is their WOW factor! No other platform gives students immediate feedback while learning like Boom Cards do!

Another reason I love Boom Cards is that they aren’t just for small group centers. I use this set on Partial Product Multiplication in my whole group instruction. Students use a similar work mat with a place value chart, so it’s a fun and interactive way for us to check our work during the lesson.

Want to know more about Boom Cards? Read my blog post to learn how I use them in the classroom or view them in my TPT store!

If you aren’t teaching these non-traditional 1-digit multiplication methods, I hope you will consider doing so. Your students will thank you!

Until next time,
Happy Teaching!

-Annamarie