18 FREE Math Intervention Resources And Ideas For Teachers
Math intervention resources are essential to engage learners in math skills. This article provides 18 free resources for your next small group or one-on-one math intervention for 3rd-5th graders.
Math intervention occurs within a Response to Intervention or RTI framework. It’s built on the idea that some students need extra instruction and practice to master math concepts.
When working with struggling students, having engaging materials for practice and an abundance of progress monitoring tools makes RTI and MTSS implementation more successful.
These free resources can be used in the classroom for Tier 1 interventions, small group Tier 2 interventions or special education instruction.
About math intervention resources
Math intervention program resources should support students’ skill development across the curriculum and be targeted to strengthen specific skills in number sense and problem solving.
Things to ensure math intervention resources include:
- Review and practice for mastering skills
- Teaching and modeling new concepts
- Teacher-led practice for new concepts
- Independent practice
- Easy to monitor student progress.
Resources should also support best practices in math instruction:
- Explicit instruction or direct teaching of skills
- Visual representation of math concepts
- Hands-on activities and manipulatives
- Peer-assisted or collaborative
- Formative assessment
Math Intervention Pack Number and Operations in Base 10
Support your 3rd-5th grade intervention students with number and operations in base 10 with these ready-to-go math intervention packs
Download Free Now!Third Space Learning’s math intervention resources
Third Space Learning’s math experts have created hundreds of math resources to use across math intervention strategies from Tier 1 through Tier 3 interventions.
Math specialists have written and designed adaptive math topic guides to use with students. All math topic guides contain ‘I do, we do, you do’ step-by-step instructions, detailed examples, practice math questions and teaching tips. These can be used in class or for pre or post teaching.
Other free resources from Third Space Learning designed to improve fact fluency and problem solving include:
For more intense math instruction, use Third Space Learning’s math intervention packs – taken straight from our one-on-one math tutoring sessions.
Every math intervention pack contains an introductory slide to activate prior learning and introduce the math concept.
Intervention slides start with guided practice and progress to independent practice with the opportunity for students to apply their math skills in unfamiliar content to secure understanding.
Teachers or interventionists can finish the small group or one-on-one session with the check for understanding slide to assess students’ understanding and adapt learning.
To help with the delivery of each session and understanding, every math intervention pack includes:
- Math standard covered
- Key mathematical ideas
- Revelavant math terminology
- Sentence stems
- Common misconceptions
- Teaching slides
- Answers
- Modeling prompts
- Teaching prompts
- Questions to ask students
Read more: Research-Based Math Interventions
Math intervention resources for 3rd grade
Third grade can mark a big change for students as they are expected to work with more math information than ever and bring multiple operations into one problem.
Students in third grade are expected to:
- Engage with multiplication and division
- Compare fractions
- Apply operations to area and perimeter
- Expand number sense to rounding greater numbers
Since math is cumulative, struggles that may not have been a concern in earlier grades can become a challenge for 3rd grade learners.
Specific 3rd Grade Struggles
- Lacking a foundation
If students do not understand the core math functions, they cannot move on to more advanced skills. For example, if students do not understand counting in groups, then multiplication will be more difficult to learn.
- Fractions
Ask any teacher, fractions are likely on the list of skills that students struggle with. Fractions can be a hard skill to conceptualize without the use of manipulatives and visual representations. Even then, the idea that we can compare (or add) parts of a whole can be difficult for students to comprehend.
- Math anxiety
Math anxiety often sets in during third grade. Learners may feel like the work is too difficult or they aren’t equipped to find the right answer for every problem.
Tips and ideas for using resources
Math resources that explain information and help build 3rd graders’ foundation as they learn new content can help strengthen skills while alleviating math anxiety.
When using a math resource with 3rd graders:
- Slow down and move at their pace. Make sure students understand the math terms and concepts before moving on to the next step.
- Provide students with explicit instruction in new math concepts so that they are not left to guess.
- Provide lots of visual and interactive examples so students can solidify their understanding before independent practice.
Free resources:
Math Intervention Pack Fractions
- Recognizing and making equivalent fractions
- Understanding fractions as parts of a whole
Math Intervention Pack Operations and Algebraic Thinking
- Solving two-step word problems using all 4 operations
- Using multiplication and division facts up to 12 x 12
Math Intervention Pack Number and Operations in Base 10
- Rounding whole numbers to the nearest 10
- Subtracting whole numbers within 1,000
Math intervention resources for 4th grade
In fourth grade, math concepts become more complicated as students learn why math works, not just how to get the correct answer. They delve deeper into the processes and procedures for understanding how to:
- Complete multi-digit multiplication and division
- Answer multi-step word problems
- Deepen understanding of fractions
The pace of learning speeds up as students are expected to be able to solve math facts with automaticity.
Specific 4th grade struggles
- Justification
Students have to explain and jusitfy their work from showing how they solved a two-digit multiplication problem to writing a paragraph that details why they chose a strategy for a word problem.
- Math language
Some students will struggle with the language required. Having math vocabulary resources and sentence stems to hand can help alleviate cognitive overload.
- Processes
Other learners will get confused with the number of steps required to complete more advanced processes and problems.
Tips and ideas for using resources
Math resources for 4th grade provide models for comprehending what problems are asking and how learners can explain their thinking.
When using math resources with 4th graders:
- Model step-by-step. Use think-aloud strategies to show students how you solve a problem and get from the language in the problem to the language in your response.
- Use math talks. Train students to explain their thought process in partners or by presenting to the class.
- Allow extra space when you are working on problems in a worksheet or resource.
Free resources
Math Intervention Pack Fractions
- Understanding adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators
- Understanding multiplication of a whole number by a non-unit fraction
Math Intervention Pack Operations and Algebraic Thinking
- Geometric patterns
- Finding Factors and Factor Pairs
Math Intervention Pack Number and Operations in Base 10
- Multiply 2-digit numbers using the area model
- Dividing using partitioning
Math intervention resources for 5th grade
Fifth grade math adds to the challenge of 4th grade math, 5th graders are expected to:
- Show their work and justify their answers with fractions
- Increase fluency and automaticity with addition and subtraction of fractions
- Start multiplying and dividing fractions
- Apply the four operations to decimals
- Complete problems about volume.
Specific 5th grade struggles
Math in fifth grade will challenge:
- Students’ executive functioning
- Working memory
- Organization
Students are completing longer problems and relying on their math knowledge to complete problems.
Tips and ideas for using resources
In 5th grade, using resources that break down problems into manageable chunks and then support students’ ability to build up their stamina and organization helps students master 5th grade concepts.
To use 5th grade math resources:
- Focus on organization. Teach students how to organize their math work, their workspace, and their thoughts.
- Use examples of typical problems as references for how to solve problems. Turn example problems from a resource like the Third Space 5th grade intervention pack into an anchor chart for reference.
- Use checklists. As you work through practice problems, provide students with a checklist for math problem solving on a notecard or bookmark.
Math Intervention Pack Fractions
- Finding fractions of a whole number
- Subtracting mixed numbers
Math Intervention Pack Operations and Algebraic Thinking
- Identifying, recording, and graphing ordered pairs
- Expressions involving parentheses
Math Intervention Pack Number and Operations in Base 10
- Multiplying and dividing decimals using known facts
- Reading and writing decimals in numeral, word, and expanded forms
How to design your own resources
There may be times where the desired resource isn’t available for Common Core or your state standards and you need to create your own.
When working with students who are in Tier 3 intervention or one-on-one targeted intervention, you may need to create your own resource that meets the student’s needs.
These resources don’t need to be overcomplicated. Often, a piece of paper and pen are all you need to design a customized, differentiated and adaptive math practice sheet.
Important considerations when designing your own math intervention resource:
- Include space to think aloud or have learners think through their math thinking. Write a problem and provide a box under each problem for students to explain their thinking.
- Use a checklist format for students to work through problems. One idea is to have a checklist on the left side of a page, and three math problems on the right. Students check off each step as they work through the problems.
- Provide lots of opportunities for practice and feedback
Teacher-created resources can also make use of math games. Tic tac toe or connect four are great ways to practice math.
Games are great ways to make math practice interactive and engage learners in collaboration, right through to high school.
- Set up the game with math problems written on sticky notes
- Give each player a sticky note and they solve the problem before their turn
- While the other student is taking their turn, they can start a new problem
More resources, more math
The success of math intervention depends on reaching the right students at the right time. The math resources in this article will help you do just that while ensuring that students have fun mastering math skills.
Browse the Third Space Learning math resource library for great resources for elementary school and middle school students.
Resources cover every math topic and module from Number and Operations, including place value to geometry.
Use the games and activities to help students learn and practice math topics as a whole class or in small group interventions.
Math intervention resources from Third Space Learning are perfect for all the elements of Tier 2 or Tier 3 intervention, from initial formative and summative assessment to review to progress monitoring.
Read more:
FAQs
Mathematics intervention involves instruction to help students who have gaps in math knowledge, or who are having trouble mastering grade-level math skills. Some effective intervention strategies include explicit instruction and strategies like cover-copy-compare, self-monitoring checklists, and peer-assisted learning strategies.
Teachers start by using diagnostic assessments, curriculum-based assessments, or universal screeners to identify which students require support. Once they have identified the students who need support, the next step is to identify the skills that students need to master to succeed in the grade-level curriculum.
Tier 2 interventions are provided in small groups in class with the classroom teacher or an interventionist. These intervention strategies could be review lessons in core math skills, along with extra practice. Or, they could be explicit instruction in skills with the use of manipulatives or visual representations to support students’ math learning.
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