Welcome Back to a New School Year!

Four large post-its displaying a classes getting to know you survey results as tallies in data tables

The MCMI Team welcomes all our teachers back to the start of a new school year! Here are some ideas for getting to know your students through math and starting the school year off strong:

1. 100 Numbers Task from Sara VanDerWerf to get students working together. Looking for a new version? Look for Lauren Johnson’s version described in the October 2022 update to Sara’s blog post.

2. The NRICH site has several  great collection of tasks and resources for establishing norms.

Being Collaborative - Primary Teachers

Being Resilient - Primary Teachers 

Being Collaborative- Secondary Teachers

Being Resilient - Secondary Teachers

3. Try working with student names at the start of the school year!

  • Who's name is longer? Is my name longer or shorter than most other names?

  • How many times can you write your name in one minute? Who wrote their name the most times? the fewest times?

  • If A = $1 and Z= $26, how much does your name cost? Which names cost the most? the least?

4. Get to know each other with data! Then ask students to notice and wonder.

  • Do you have dimples?

  • Are your earlobes attached?

  • Can you curl your tongue?

  • What type of shoes are you wearing?

  • Are you right-handed or left-handed?

  • How many pets do you have?

  • How many siblings?

  • How many people live in your home?

  • How many pockets are you wearing?

  • How many buttons are you wearing?