[Our February math activities are available for third, fourth, and fifth grade.]
Even though school has started back up, you may not feel back to a typical routine just yet. With the pandemic disrupting even the best made plans, we are all doing our best to educate our students regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in. Many of you may be switching back to remote instruction while others continue in person. Some of you may even be covering for other teachers, working during each and every prep period.
No matter where you are right now, my goal is to send you love, encouragement, and hope during this difficult time. Whether you are celebrating 100 days in school, wondering what weather Punxsutawney Phil will predict, or just looking forward to a fun-filled Valentine’s Day in your class, this month’s bundle has everything you need to keep your 3rd grade, 4th grade, and 5th grade students motivated to learn in February. There’s even a resource dedicated to National Pizza Day for some added joy to your lesson plans.
When you do find that time to open your planner between classes, make sure to reserve space for games, mazes, and coloring. We’ve made it easy to make learning fun while supporting solid foundational math skills.
Let’s take a closer look at what February’s print and go math bundles include!
- Groundhog Pattern Maze
- Valentine Matching
- Cake Walk Bump Game
- Valentine Heart & Cupcake Rounding Glyphs
- National Pizza Day Fractions
- Sorting Valentines – Fractions
- 100th Day Race – Adding & Subtracting Money
- Which One Doesn’t Belong? – Word Problems
1. Groundhog Pattern Maze
Looking for a groundhog to guide the weather for the next few weeks? Your students can help find one as they make their way through a maze of patterns. Each groundhog has a new pattern for students to follow as they color in the correct path of the maze. Students will practice skip counting, adding, and subtracting. In the lower levels, there is only one path unblocked to each new groundhog to support even struggling students. In the higher level, students must pay extra attention, as some paths lead to more than one groundhog, lending a challenge to students who are ready.
3rd Grade:
Skip count from groundhog to groundhog through a maze
• 2-10
•• multiples of 10
4th Grade:
Follow a rule to complete a maze
• addition to 500
•• subtraction from 500
5th Grade:
Follow a rule to complete a maze
• addition of tenths & hundredths
•• subtraction of tenths & hundredths
2. Valentine Matching
Unlock the love in this matching activity perfect for Valentine’s Day centers. Each grade level focuses on a different skill specific to what your students are expected to learn this year. Students draw lines to match keys to heart-shaped locks, then write in answers to solve the problems. Students can work in pairs or check their work in small groups once they’ve completed the activity.
3rd Grade:
Match multiplication expressions to arrays and distributive property then solve.
• 2-5
•• 6-10
4th Grade:
Match images of adjacent angles and measures to equations with a variable, then solve to find the missing angle.
• add adjacent angles to find the total
•• subtract one angle from the total to find the measure of the unknown adjacent angle
5th Grade:
Match a word problem to a picture and equation then solve.
• unit fraction ÷ whole number
•• whole number ÷ unit fraction
3. Cake Walk Bump Game
At this point in the year, many students have the basics down but may need more practice with larger numbers. This two player game allows students to practice harder skills in a fun way.
This is a classic bump game where players try to cover spaces with all of their markers. A player can “bump” another player’s marker off, but once one player has two markers on a space, it’s theirs for good, no bumping allowed!
Make a fun Valentine’s Day center with heart shaped markers made from felt or paper. Students can even make their own markers. Play once or twice with your students, then leave for a substitute for some fun learning even while you’re gone!
Teacher-Tip: Have students use whiteboards while they play to help add or subtract.
3rd Grade:
Add & subtract within 1,000
• addition
•• subtraction
4th Grade:
Division without remainders
• 3 digits ÷ 1 digit
•• 4 digits ÷ 1 digit
5th Grade:
Division without remainders
• 3 digits ÷ 2 digits
•• 4 digits ÷ 2 digits
4. Valentine Heart & Cupcake Rounding Glyph
Not just another coloring page! This is a glyph, with 9 personal questions for students to answer about themselves. Students’ answers lead them to different questions about rounding, which leads to different coloring instructions.
After students color their glyphs, you have a beautiful classroom display and your students learn a little more about one another.
3rd Grade:
Round to the nearest…
• 10
•• 100
4th Grade:
Round to the nearest…
• 10-1,000
•• 1,000-100,000
5th Grade:
Round to the nearest…
• tenth
•• hundredth
5. National Pizza Day Fractions
Did you know that February 9th is National Pizza Day? It’s okay. I didn’t either. But now that I know about it, what a fun way to get students interested in math.
Pizzas lend themselves perfectly to practicing all types of fraction related skills, so this activity is all about fractions – recognizing fractions, comparing, multiplying, and more!
BONUS for ALL grades: Pizza trivia quiz at the bottom of each page with upside down answers below. Everything you never wanted to know about pizza!
3rd Grade:
Use pictures of fractions to help…
• write & compare fractions
•• compare & order fractions
4th Grade:
Use blank partitioned circles to shade and multiply fractions
• whole number x unit fractions
•• whole number x fractions
5th Grade:
Use blank partitioned circles to shade and multiply fractions
• whole numbers x fractions; write as improper fraction and mixed number
•• whole number x mixed number; write as a mixed number
6. Sorting Valentine Fractions
Here’s another great activity for centers! From number lines to cookie jars, students will cut and sort fractions. Third grade starts with fractions on a number line, fourth moves to decimals on a number line, and in fifth, students rationalize whether a whole number will be larger or smaller depending on the fraction that it’s multiplied by.
After each sorting activity, students use what they’ve practiced to answer comparing and ordering questions about fractions.
3rd Grade:
Sort fractions on number line, then compare fractions
• separate number lines for halves, fourths, thirds, & sixths
•• halves & fourths on a shared number line; thirds & sixths
4th Grade:
Sort decimals on number line, compare & order decimals, convert fractions to decimals
• tenths
•• tenths & hundredths
5th Grade:
Sort fractions based on scaling to determine >, <, = when multiplying fractions
• compare whole number to whole number x fraction
•• compare 2 whole numbers multiplied by different fractions
7. 100th Day Race
Whether you celebrate the 100th day with gusto or let it pass with a simple nod, this game will be a hit with your students. It’s also a great addition to centers leading up to or following the 100th day, perfect for a sub, or left out for rainy day recess.
Students always need more practice working with coins, and what better way than to make a game of it. Players take turns spinning and recording their coins and values on a record sheet. There’s even a hundreds grid to help support students as they add or subtract.
3rd Grade:
Spin, record, and race to $1.00
• add to 100¢
•• subtract from 100¢
4th Grade:
Spin, record, and race to $1.00
• add coins as fractions of a dollar
•• subtract coins as fractions of a dollar
5th Grade:
Spin, record, and race to $1.00
• add coins as decimals
•• subtract coins as decimals
8. Which One Doesn’t Belong?
I used to love this type of game as a kid. There was usually a picture with 4 or more objects and you had to figure out which one wasn’t like the others.
This printable math worksheet has the same idea, but is adapted to the math you’re working on in your classroom. Each problem has 4 ways to show the same problem – think word problem, picture, equation, answer, or something similar. Except one way has incorrect information that doesn’t fit in with the rest of the problem. Your students will become the detectives to figure out which way does not fit in with the others and make the appropriate changes.
3rd Grade:
Word problems with elapsed time
• 5 minutes
•• 1 minute
4th Grade:
Word problems adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators
• addition
•• subtraction
5th Grade:
Word problems with fractions as division
• picture of fraction/division
•• answer between 2 whole numbers
I hope you enjoy these activities within the four walls of your classroom (or screen as the case may be), regardless of what is going on in the world outside. Students will be thankful for the fun as well as the stability you are providing as an educator right now.
Be safe, be kind, and have fun teaching!
View the Grade Level Bundles
Purchase the bundles and save!
- Monthly themed games, puzzles, crafts, coloring, and more!
- 2 levels for differentiation
- BW & Color
- Answer Keys
- 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade bundles!
Suzanne Maxwell
Are you common core aligned or TEKS aligned for Texas?
Math Tech Connections
Our monthly activities will cover all CCSS, but we do include a TEKs alignment guide. You can view the TEKs covered in this February set if you click on the preview button on the TPT listing.