ETA Cuisenaire Daily Math Reinforcers

I've been using this resource for nearly ten years, and it has been a tremendous way to improve student math skills as well as review and pre-teach concepts that need to be met. These work well as a warmup for math classes as well as a tool for remedial groups. There are three sheets to each reproducible page. Each daily sheet has a mental math section, a word problem, and a skill review section. The newest edition of the manual also includes concept sheets and section quizzes. The series has a book for each of grades 1-8.

The mental math section has three questions which I just read to the class. I usually read them twice and ask the students to answer the questions by thinking about it, but not by writing anything down except the answer. I've seen a number of students improve tremendously in the area of mental math as the year progresses. When we go over the questions, we share how we thought about the problem to get the answer. Then we realize that there is often more than one way to solve the problem. Sometimes we have the opportunity to correct faulty reasoning or misconceptions.

The word problem section requires students to list the steps to solving the problem in a format that fits the acronymn, TIPS. (Thought, Information, Plan, Solution)Occasionally, problems are given that do not have enough information to solve. Students know this and if there is not enough information, they write NEI and then tell what information they would need to solve the problem.

When I was teaching regular ed middle school math, I started many of my classes with this activity as a warm-up. I handed the slips out as students came in the door, and then just went to the front of the room and started by saying "Number 1" which was the mental math section. When I did this, students settled right down. I allowed about eight minutes for the work. Now as a remedial teacher, I often use these daily warm-ups with my students. In both situations, I go over the slips inviting students to give answers and model solutions.

The ADD acronymn is on every sheet for Arithmetic Daily Developed. This series has truly helped my students become more proficient in math.