These free number line activities show how K -12 math is all connected.
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Raise your hand if you remember building colorful block towers and singing "1, 2, 3, 4, 5" in kindergarten!
Those seemingly simple games launch our students’ incredible journey into the world of math.
But as they advance, grasping complex math concepts can feel like scaling Mount Everest in flip-flops. Too often, students don’t see how new lessons connect to previous knowledge.
That's where the magic of a connected K-12 math curriculum comes in.
Introducing the Make Math Connect Activity Packs
A connected K-12 math curriculum helps students see how math concepts build on one another over time. One great way to reinforce this is with math activities that are intentionally designed to build on previously learned knowledge.
Access free activities that do this by downloading the Make Math Connect packs.
These engaging activities, pulled from our ClearMath solutions, offer fifteen gameboards or worksheets for every grade from Kindergarten to Algebra 2. Complete with printable resources and teacher instructions, the Make Math Connect activities are engaging ways to help your students grasp key mathematical concepts and build a long-lasting love for learning math. As a set, they show how math is connected through the number line's various iterations.
Here’s a sneak peek at the math activities you’ll get. Whether you just need the activity for one grade or multiple, we hope you and your students enjoy making math connect.
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Number Line Adventures: Building Math Skills in Grades K-5
In this math activity, your kindergarten students become number detectives, using clues like "My number is less than 7" to eliminate suspects (numbers) on a number line.
Each clue sharpens their understanding of the number line as a number path and helps them recognize each number as a quantity in and of itself. When they crack the case, it will reveal the mystery number!
The Make Math Connect Activity Pack provides:
You’ll provide:
Sticky notes
This fun, interactive first-grade math activity lets your students move on up from the number path to the number line. Students will practice adding and subtracting within 99 as they play this game in pairs.
Watch their mathematical thinking blossom as they share their strategies and celebrate their journey to Room 99!
The Make Math Connect Activity Pack provides:
You’ll provide:
Ready to get your students jumping with excitement while practicing subtraction? Jumping Back to 0 is a two-person game that helps second graders solidify their understanding of subtraction on an open number line.
In this colorful activity, students use number cubes and a game board to take turns jumping Serena backward on the number line and strategically subtracting until they land on 0.
The Make Math Connect Activity Pack provides:
You’ll provide:
In this math activity, students will help Bunny the Rabbit navigate her race track by applying their understanding of whole numbers, fractions, and measurement. They'll create number lines, label them with fractional units, and use their knowledge to pinpoint Bunny's location on the track based on clues about the distance she's run.
Through this hands-on experience, students will solidify their grasp of whole numbers and fractions on the same number line, making this activity a win-win for learning and fun!
The Make Math Connect Activity Pack provides:
This math activity will have your students leaping over fraction woes and boldly diving into addition. Your students will use the number line, a tool they already know, in new ways. They‘ll practice different strategies for adding fractions, like making jumps and breaking fractions apart.
Through discussions and clear examples, they'll see how the open number line is a powerful tool to visualize addition and connect it to their whole number skills. By the end, they’ll feel more confident adding fractions.
The Make Math Connect Activity Pack provides:
In this fifth grade math activity, students team up to get in the minds of Lachlan and Aaliyah, who took different approaches to multiply unit fractions. Students will analyze how to use bar models and area models with overlapping vertical and horizontal number lines and identify factors and products within each representation.
Through this activity, students will solidify their understanding of fraction multiplication and see how the procedure works visually.
The Make Math Connect Activity Pack provides:
Mastering the Number Line: Fun Activities for Grades 6-8
In this sixth grade math activity, your students will analyze a graph to crack the code of shipping charges. They'll write an equation to model the situation, then use it and the graph to solve problems. They'll discover that sometimes, the graph can only give them an approximate answer.
The activity is chunked into bite-sized pieces with discussion prompts and opportunities for collaboration, making it a great way to engage your students in mathematical thinking and problem-solving.
The Make Math Connect Activity Pack provides:
Do your integer addition lessons need a little pep?
Enter Walking the Number Line, a number line-based, kinesthetic math activity. It’s guaranteed to get your middle schoolers up and moving, working together, and conquering those pesky positive and negative integers.
Here's what it looks like: Students in teams guide their classmates through a giant number line. Each step is an integer, and clear directions are crucial to reaching the final destination. It's a recipe for laughter, engagement, and a deep understanding of those addition rules. Plus, you can observe their thought processes in real time, making differentiation a breeze.
The Make Math Connect Activity Pack provides:
You’ll provide:
Masking tape
This eighth grade math activity combines equation writing, table creation, and graphing to demystify the break-even point, a crucial number for any business.
Students will translate real-world costs and income into linear equations and discover the magical point where their efforts finally pay off—literally.
So, dust off your markers and get ready to witness the "aha!" moment when students see cost and income intersect on the glorious graph, marking a crucial milestone in the journey to profitability.
The Make Math Connect Activity Pack provides:
High School Math on the Move: Number Line Activities for grades 9-12
Your students are getting close to driving age–have they started thinking about cars?
This activity is like having a crystal ball—mathematically speaking—to predict depreciation.
Students will estimate the value of a car over time by eyeballing the sweet spot where an exponential function, representing the car's value, meets a flat line, representing its decreasing worth.
This activity also connects to the real world by showing how the rate of depreciation, represented by the mysterious b-value, impacts the car's value over time.
The Make Math Connect Activity Pack provides:
This geometry activity empowers your students to explore translations as directed line segments and translate figures using function notation.
Students will explore translation functions through collaborative problem-solving and discussions, connecting them to real-world scenarios such as moving furniture or planning a road trip.
They'll learn to measure translations, calculate distances, and understand the meaning behind function notation elements. As a result, they'll be confident in their ability to translate figures and solve real-world translation problems, just as they'd decide which route a delivery truck should take!
The Make Math Connect Activity Pack provides:
In this two-part Algebra 2 activity, students transform from algebra students to planter box designers. They'll analyze real-world volume situations, model the boxes with expressions, and write a function to represent the volume based on height.
In exploring the connections between the function and the graph, students will discover exciting features such as relative maximums and gain a deeper understanding of cubic equations.
The Make Math Connect Activity Pack provides:
Connecting the dots: the beauty of math's interconnectedness
Math isn't a climb; it's a connected adventure. Children start by skipping on number lines; before you know it, they’re conquering equations. Each concept builds on the last, making learning seamless.
The secret weapon? Engaging activities that make math connections clear! From detective games to planter boxes, these experiences spark understanding and a love for learning.
Ditch the drills, join the exploration, and watch your students become curious mathematicians, connecting the dots throughout their journey.
Ready to walk the line? Download our FREE Make Math Connect activity packs and unlock a world of number line exploration. Remember, the journey starts at different points, but the beauty lies in its interconnectedness. Let's connect the math it together!
A former Spanish teacher who is currently based in the Washington DC metropolitan area. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish Language and Literature from la Universidad del Zulia and a Master's degree in Spanish Linguistics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her interests include SEL education in the world language classroom, theater, and finding ways to make the world a less scary place.
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