Open-Ended Math Centers

At our school, we strongly believe in the benefits of inquiry, exploration and play based learning – for all of our students, but especially our youngest students in KG (kindergarten). One of the best strategies our teachers implement are open-ended math centers.

Here are a few reasons why we love open-ended math centers:

• open-ended math centers have no start or finish, which means there are never students who are ‘done early’ and never students who need to ‘finish their work’
• open-ended math centers allow students of different abilities to self-differentiate and explore the math concepts and skills they are developmentally ready for
• open-ended math centers allow students to construct their own meaning, collaborate with their peers and engage in authentic conversations about math
• open-ended math centers allow teachers to observe and collect assessment data in a non-threatening, non-stressful environment.

Take a look at some of our open-ended math centers in action. What do you notice?

How many of the following Common Core State Standards for Kindergarten Math are being explored?

How many of these Common Core State Standard Mathematical Practices are being developed?

Here is a sneak peak into how we plan for open-ended math centers:

Manipulatives	Writing Tools	Boards/Placemats	Teacher Questions/Prompts	CCSS
Dot cards (p.34 guide for effective in kindergarten)	white boards markers, pencils	white boards	How many dots are there? Which has more? Has less?	6
Any ( peoples, farm animals, cubes)	white board markets, pencils	white boards, papers, dot cards, stampers, two circle placemats	How many are in this circle? How many are in that circle? Which group has more? Less? How could we make it equal?	6
number line, counters	white boards markers, papers	white boards, papers	How can you show me this number? Can you show me a number bigger than this number? Less than this number?	6
counters	white boards /white board markers	ten frames	What number did you build? How many more do you need to make ___? How do we make ex: 11 ?	3
shape blocks	pencil, markers	paper	What do you notice? What are you drawing? Tell me about that shape? How are these shapes the same?	3
building blocks number cards	playdo		How do the numbers look different? How do they look different? Choose two numbers. One of them is a lot more than the other. What are they and how could you write them?	3

We are always growing in our own understanding of math centers and play-based learning, so we would love your feedback about our open-ended math centres. We would also love to hear about and see what early math learning looks like in your classroom!