730 Daily Math Warm-Ups

I ordered this book for my daughter who is a gifted math student in the 5th grade. She loves the problems and finds the activity more fun than most kinds of play.

I have used several math books in the Walch series and I like all of them. Walch does a great job of publishing books that teachers can pick up and use immediately. Most require only photocopying because Walch allows the lessons to be reproduced. 730 Daily Math Warm-ups is especially useful at the beginning of the class. While taking attendance, I assign a different math problem each day as a "sponge activity" (teacher talk for a quick activity that sets the tone and prepares students for the class). There are two problems for each day (days are identified by month and date) so creating an overhead transparancy or photocopying is all that is required. I photocopy the problems then glue them to an index card and hand them out when the bell rings. This acts a motivator to get students to class on time. No problem-no points and no chance of winning special rewards. Some problems are more challenging than others, but students should be able to solve most of them within 10 minutes. I always set a time limit for completion. Also, the fact that the problems can be solved by most students gives the students a sense of accomplishment and reward and this gets them ready to learn. Students like these activities because they are "puzzles". They may solve them independently or with a partner. If you haven't used the Walch books, you're missing great teacher resource material.