Sometimes, you just need a solid, content-filled resource to help establish routines in your upper elementary classroom, and you can use these daily math warm-ups every day of the school year to spiral standards and provide ongoing assessment and practice for your students.
Routine is more important in elementary school than almost any other time of a child’s learning. As students experience the younger elementary grade levels (kindergarten, first, and second grade), the need for routine is obvious, and students will often let you know any time you are in any way changing or interfering with their routine.
Upper Elementary Students Still Need Routine!
In upper elementary, the need for routine is less obvious. Students are a bit more mature and generally a little better at adapting or taking in new information.
Sometimes, this gives us more confidence that our students will be able to navigate the ebbs and flows of the day a little better… this, however, is only partially true.
Although your upper elementary students may be able to process more steps of a sequence at a time, and they may be more understanding of change, they aren’t exactly comfortable with it. In fact, there are many adults who aren’t comfortable in environments that frequently change.
That’s why building systems is so important.
Even if your whole day is not built on systems like in kindergarten, having certain things you do every day at a specific time can give students something to expect and bring calmness to that moment in their day.
Using daily resources, like these daily math warm-ups every day of the school year, gives students something they can count on each day. Something to help ground them even when the rest of their day feels a little more “go with the flow.”
Before we continue, we also wrote a post about how close reads can provide routine in the classroom. Check out that post by clicking here!
Let’s talk a little more about these daily math warm-ups and how they are intended to be used.
What are THESE Daily Math Warm-Ups?
These 4th and 5th grade math resources are perfect for morning work, beginning of class warm-ups, homework, or even as a station during rotations.
You can use these daily math warm-ups every day because you have so many of them to choose from. Each resource includes 180 days of math review that spiral the standards (either 4th grade or 5th grade) for your students to use as a daily practice throughout the year.
The resource includes both digital and print versions. The digital versions are really nice for assigning to students on day one. Using the digital version eliminates the use of paper and saves you time on printing the resource. You also have the printable version, which is sometimes nice to print out for substitute teachers or when you want the daily math warm-up to be more of an assessment or bell-ringer.
What Standards are Covered?
The 4th grade resource begins the year with a review of all the 3rd grade math standards, and the 5th grade resource begins by reviewing all the 4th grade math standards. Then, as the year progresses, the 4th grade resource will gradually add in the 4th grade standards, as shown in the list below.
4th Grade Quarter-by-Quarter Standards List
1st Quarter
- 3rd-grade review
- place value
- rounding
- adding and subtracting whole numbers
- time
2nd quarter
- review of previous topics
- multiplying and dividing whole numbers
- factors and multiples
- prime and composite
- beginning fractions
3rd Quarter
- review of previous topics
- fractions
- elapsed time
- geometry
- measurement
4th Quarter
- review of all previous topics
- more fractions
- measurement
- decimals
Likewise, the 5th grade resource gradually adds in the 5th grade standards all while increasing in difficulty. Check out the quarter-by-quarter standards list below.
5th Grade Quarter-by-Quarter Standards List
1st Quarter
- 4th-grade review
- place value
- rounding
- adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing whole numbers
- powers of 10
- order of operations
2nd quarter
- review of previous topics
- decimals
- beginning fractions
3rd Quarter
- review of previous topics
- fractions
4th Quarter
- review of previous topics
- geometry
- measurement
As you can see through these guides, these daily math warm-ups are not stagnant. Despite the fact that they always look the same and are a great way to add daily routine into your math block, these resources gradually get more difficult and adapt as you introduce new concepts into your math curriculum.
Using Daily Math Warm-Ups Every Day Effectively
Since these warm-ups are digital, students will be able to access them whenever you need them, and they can access them without you needing to have a stack of papers sitting out or having to hand out anything. This provides some flexibility as to when you use them.
Before the beginning of the year, decide the best time for students to complete their daily math warm-up. Do you want students to do them as they transition into their math block? Do you want them to complete them as they get back from recess? Maybe it’s something they do during snack time.
They could also be part of your soft start to the school day or your exit protocol.
Pick a good time of the day that rarely changes, and set up the routine from day one that THIS is the time the math warm-up will be done.
When you decide to use these daily math warm-ups every day of the school year, you are committing to setting a routine your students can depend on. Something that gives them time to review and spiral concepts as they learn them, but also something that will provide them with comfort and stability in their day.
For a full rundown of the daily math warm-ups, check out this blog post, where we fully break down the daily math warmups, what they look like, and how each day is laid out!
