MONTHLY MATH PUZZLES
If you are familiar with my monthly math crafts, you know that I’m always looking for ways to review math fluency in a creative and engaging way. We KNOW that children have to consistently practice these skills in order to maintain those skills and to continue to grow. As a young learner, I always enjoyed art. I liked to color, and I also loved puzzles. I created my monthly math puzzles as a way to review important math skills while also tying in things that kids love. I frequently get questions about what’s included in my differentiated monthly math puzzles, so I thought I’d write a post and tell you all about them!
WHY MATH PUZZLES?
I personally feel that cutting and gluing are so important – even in upper elementary. It helps strengthen fine motor skills and practices spatial reasoning and problem-solving skills. I’ve always spent a great deal of time teaching my 2nd graders how to cut and tricks to make it easier. You would be surprised at how many children make this so much harder than it needs to be! Below you can see the steps I teach my students when cutting out their math puzzles.
DIFFERENTIATION
One of the great things about these math puzzles is that each puzzle includes EIGHT differentiation options. That means all of your students can work on the same puzzle, but you can assign them math at their own level. While some students may be working on single digit addition or 2 digit without regrouping, you can have other students working on 3 digit addition or even subtraction. This makes differentiating a breeze, and students are less likely to compare themselves since they all have the same final outcome. I recently added an editable option as well, so you can the problems to whatever you need!
THE PUZZLES
Each month currently includes 3 puzzles and 8 differentiation options. The months are available individually or in a discounted GROWING BUNDLE. (It’s growing because I currently have August-March. April-June will be added.) Check out the images below to see examples of the puzzles for each month. Just click the image to see the resource in my TPT store!
BUYER FEEDBACK
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These were SUCH a blessing in my math focus group this year! My students LOVED them and begged for more time to work on them. Thank you!
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This product is a math centers JACK POT!!! My kids are highly engaged, ask for more and able to see when they get a problem wrong. The best part- It’s so easy to differentiate for the many different levels in your classroom. OH YEAH!! Thank you, Jana! I know our 1st, 2nd, 3rd, & 4th grade teachers are using this at our school because there are so many options. I will DEFINITELY be snagging ALL of these as Jana puts out the year’s themes.
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My students love doing these math puzzle pictures! In fact they ask me if they can do one every week! It also helps me to see which students are grasping the concept! Thank you!
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This activity is amazing! My students were so engaged and got in some great fact practice. I used this with a sub and it was perfect. Thank you! I can’t wait to try more!
I hope this answers some of the questions you’ve had! You can find ALL of my monthly math puzzles HERE!
Click the images below to pin them for later:
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OTHER MATH RESOURCES YOU MIGHT LIKE
