Warm-Ups in Math Education

In my research and experience, warm-ups are a very valuable component to a lesson as they provide an informal assessment of information that you would expect students to already know. Furthermore, it is actually like warming up the student's brains as their brains begin firing and re-kindling stored information so it can be used. In essence, it acts like a "grabber" to engage the students. The warm-up is generally most effective when the problems target skills that are required in order to complete the task on that day. Sometimes, these warm-ups can be geared toward skills required for passing OAKS and by reviewing them daily in these warm-up activities, they are getting extra repetition.

Traditionally, math warm-ups consisted of the teacher placing 5 problems on the board or overhead projector and the students privately work on each problem when the tardy bell rings. The teacher then goes over the answers and asks if there are any questions. With the new and improved teaching methods such as CMP and inquiry based teaching, it is possible that the warm-up activities consist of the teacher posing a question, the students thinking about it, then turning and talking to their partner or table group in a discussion. The class then discusses some of the answers the groups came up with. The students warm up their brains through active discussion and listening to their peers instead of the traditional "chalk and talk" method, which can be boring for students. When the students come up with the answers themselves, it gives them a greater sense of ownership and can increase motivation.