Number Sense Routines, Grades 3-5

Upper elementary teachers have a big job: to help students deepen their mathematical understanding and become more efficient mathematicians. Number Sense Routines: Building Mathematical Understanding Every Day in Grades 3–5 is about tapping into every child’s innate sense of number and providing daily, connected experiences that are responsive to children’s learning needs.

Through familiar five-, ten-, or fifteen-minute warm-up routines, author Jessica Shumway offers both beginner and veteran teachers easy and effective ways to build and solidify students’ number sense foundations. No matter how familiar the routine, Jessica infuses each with new joy, depth, and life. She reveals the careful thinking and planning that goes into each routine and provides detailed vignettes and dialogues of how they unfold in real classrooms. She gives teachers a clear view into her nuanced facilitation. Each routine becomes an exciting opportunity to understand where students are in their understanding and to help students articulate and extend their mathematical thinking.

Not only will these routines help develop students’ mathematical understanding as they move towards using standard algorithms, but teachers will learn to better recognize the big ideas that emerge in discussions, how to encourage important strategies based in number sense, and how to facilitate discussions on key mathematical concepts.