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It’s mid July, and some of you are planning for the upcoming school year. If you don’t already know about math routines, then you should add them to your list of things to try next year. 

I’m a huge fan of math routines. In this post, I’ll describe what a math routine is, and why you should try them. I’ll also share some books and resources that describe how to implement math routines. These resources are great to add to your math library. 

What are Math Routines?

Math routines are structured exercises that allow for productive practice with mathematical ideas. Productive practice allows students to make meaning out of math concepts and procedures and does not include drills or timed tests for memorizing. Best of all, they can be used with any curriculum and at any time of the day.

Today’s Number, Guess My Rule, Calendar Time/Calendar Math and Number Talks are popular math routines you may have heard of. If you are familiar with the curriculum program Investigations in Number, Data, and Space, math routines are referred to as “Classroom Routines” in Grades K-2 and “Ten-Minute Math” in Grades 3-5. If you have access to this curriculum, I encourage you to explore those sections of the program.

Math routines are usually 5 to 15 minutes in length and usually require very little preparation. Of course, introducing your students to the routines may take 30 to 45 minutes the first week or two until they get the hang of it. Math routines can be implemented across all grade levels…yes, even middle, high school, and college. I also use them for professional development with teachers.

Math routines can shift mathematical attitudes, identities, and proficiency when implemented in a safe learning environment.

Why Add Math Routines to Your Day?

I can name a long list of reasons why you should add math routines to your daily practice, but I’ll just stick to my top four:

1. Math routines engage students in the Standards for Mathematical Practice. This includes communicating about ideas, making connections to different representations, and persevering in problem-solving.
2. Math routines help students develop fluency. Fluency ≠ Recalling Facts Quickly. But that’s a post for another day.
3. Math routines can serve as a formative assessment of student thinking. The teacher gets to listen to students’ ideas, which often reveals misconceptions.
4. Math routines require little effort to get started and to maintain. The routines take very little prep time and only 5 – 15 minutes of class time.
5. Students of all ages and perceived abilities enjoy them. K-12 students, practicing teachers, undergraduate, and graduate pre-service teachers enjoy math routines!

Okay, five reasons…but who’s counting?

Before beginning these routines, it’s extremely important to establish a safe environment where students make mistakes, use them as learning opportunities, feel respected and heard.

It’s also important for their teachers to set high expectations, provide supports for success, and believe that all students can do challenging mathematics. This is important for all students, but especially marginalized. Many of the resources that I list describe how to create a safe space for math learning, and youcubed.org has free handouts to get you started: Building a Mathematical Mindset Community and Positive Norms to Encourage in Math Class. There is also a great video of Dr. Jo Boaler facilitating a dot talk with a group of students.

Math Routines Resources

There are many math routines to choose from, which can be overwhelming. There are also many resources available to help us learn how to implement them. All of the resources are from organizations and people that I trust. Some feature a variety of math routines if you are interested in trying a few. The resources have various combinations of student samples, classroom vignettes, reproducible materials, and even video of the routines in action. Please share any other resources you might know of in the comments.

Feature a Variety of Math Routines

• Number Sense Routines by Jessica F. Shumway. There are two books: One for K – 2 and one for 3 – 5. The routines in this book cover concepts related to numbers and operations.
• High-Yield Routines for Grades K – 8 by Ann McCoy, Joann Barnett, and Emily Combs. The routines in this book cover all domains of math content.
• Minilessons for Math Practice by Rusty Bresser and Caren Holtzman. There are two books: One for K – 2 and one for 3 – 5. These books also cover all domains of math content.

In-Depth Coverage of Number Talks

• Making Number Talks Matter for Grades 4 – 10 and Digging Deeper: Making Number Talks Matter Even More for Grades 3 – 10, both by Ruth Parker and Cathy Humphreys. Digging Deeper includes online classroom videos.
• Number Talks by Sherry Parrish. There are also two books: Whole Number Computation and Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages. Both include classroom videos.

Where to Begin

Dot Talks/Quick Images are good math routines to start with because they encourage students to visualize patterns in how objects are arranged to determine the total number. They are easy to make, and math averse people are less threatened by them. Dot Talks/Quick Images are included in each of the resources I shared above and will be the focus of my next post.

Do you use math routines? Share your experiences in the comments below.