How can math centers improve learning in elementary classrooms?
I was an elementary teacher for 11 years, and I’ll tell anyone who will listen: use math centers.
Math learning centers are like mini-classrooms or stations you can set up to help students clarify, solidify, and stretch their learning in small groups with active, hands-on activities. They’re an excellent opportunity for playful learning and a great supplement to traditional instruction.
If math centers are new to you, or even something you’re curious about, check out these benefits of using centers in your elementary classroom!
Use math centers to personalize and differentiate learning
Using math centers in your elementary classroom is a perfect opportunity for personalization and differentiation. Planning for both is always at the top of an educator’s list!
Well-planned math stations naturally allow you to personalize lessons for diverse student needs. This one-on-one or small group time with your students means you can effectively address specific skill gaps or extend learning for advanced students.
Let’s say your kindergarten students are working on identifying numbers 1–5. Some students may need to work with concrete objects and teacher facilitation to solidify their understanding. In this center activity, the teacher provides pattern blocks and directs students to take handfuls of blocks, color the number of each block in their handfuls, and write the corresponding number.
In another center, students ready to clarify their knowledge can play Collecting Pennies, a game introduced at the start of the instructional block. They’ll engage independently in small groups to play a fun game to practice counting and collecting pennies.
A third center is set up for students ready to stretch their thinking, offering a patterning and counting activity. Here, they’ll receive pattern blocks and work independently to create designs while practicing copying their designs and counting the number of blocks used. Afterward, they can compare the number of blocks used with other students in the same center.
The best math learning centers, like those above from ClearMath Elementary, allow students to engage with concepts at their own pace and in ways that resonate with their individual learning preferences. This differentiation gives students a sense of ownership and autonomy, which leads to increased motivation and engagement in the learning process.
Math centers let you re-engage students with the content
Well-planned centers offer opportunities for re-engagement and extension.
Whether your students need to clarify what they’ve learned, engage with a concept in a different way, or they’re ready to stretch their knowledge, math learning centers give them time to pause and develop their understanding.
In this example, 4th grade students have participated in several whole-class lessons about lines and angles. Now they’re ready to re-engage with the content during small-group learning centers—and it’s about to get fun!
This game is called What’s the Word? and students must communicate with each other using terms like “line segment,” “ray,” “angle,” etc., to tell their teammates how to draw a mystery word.
This math center activity offers students a non-traditional way to re-engage with concepts about lines and angles. Using centers to give students the time to enhance their understanding of content presented in a whole-group lesson ensures that they’re always on track to keep up, not catch up.
Use math centers to encourage discourse and peer learning
Math stations are the perfect opportunity for young students to learn that working together can not only be fun, but can also extend their knowledge and show them new ways of thinking about math.
When your students work together in a small group at a math center, whether they’re using game-based learning software, working with manipulatives, or participating in a teacher-facilitated review, they’ll naturally start to discuss strategies, share ideas, and explain their thinking.
As you work with students at their math stations, you can scaffold their thinking, correct misconceptions, and provide support so that they’re getting the most out of this collaborative learning time.
Pre-planned questions that guide discussions are helpful, such as this set that supports student discourse and thinking while they engage in a learning center game about volume.
Math centers give your students a chance for fun, active learning
Using math centers in your elementary classroom is a perfect opportunity to promote active, hands-on learning—and research shows that our young students need to be active in the classroom as much as possible!
Through engaging activities, manipulatives, and game-based learning, students can interact with math concepts in more meaningful ways than the traditional “sit and get” lesson presentation.
And the best part? Math learning centers are the perfect place for learning time to turn into meaningful playtime. When students are having fun, they’re not worried about any preconceived notions they may have about math or how hard it may be.
In this math center activity, 2nd grade students play a game with dice to clarify their understanding of fact families. It’s a fun small-group activity that lets children play and collaborate, while still making sure fact families are the focus for learning.
Learn more about the magic of math centers
As you can see, implementing math centers in your elementary classroom is beneficial for everyone!
Centers allow you to differentiate instruction, re-engage students with content, and extend their thinking. And your students will love the engaging nature of math centers, especially as they explore playful, hands-on, and collaborative learning opportunities.
Looking for resources to help you get started? Check out our new ClearMath Elementary program, which provides center activities ready to go.
Before joining Carnegie Learning’s Professional Learning team in 2022, Casey Gordon was a classroom teacher with Frisco ISD in Frisco, Texas. There she spent 11 years teaching 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grades and was part of the curriculum writing team. She also spent time teaching pre-school in Plano, Texas. Casey holds her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with a specialization in Early Childhood Education from Stephen F. Austin State University and has a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on STEM from the University of Texas at Tyler. Foundational math instruction is her passion. She is a mom of two adult children and lives in Claremore, Oklahoma, with her 5 dogs and 27 chickens.
Explore more related to this authorMath learning centers are like mini-classrooms or stations you can set up to help students reflect on, solidify, and extend their learning in small groups with active, hands-on activities.
Casey Gordon, Elementary Teacher of 11 years
