Teaching With Terhune: Even and Odd Numbers Math Unit

I like to start my math unit on Even and Odd numbers right after I have taught my students how to skip count. If they already know how to skip count by 2's then it makes teaching the concept of even and odd numbers so much easier.

I love to start my unit off by reading this book.

After discussing the book, I like to introduce these posters that I keep on display throughout the unit.

I also go through these Smartboard slides to help teach and reinforce the concept of even and odd numbers.

For this activity, I have 9 student volunteers. I ask them to partner up. They quickly discover that one person does not have a partner and that person is the "odd man out." So they discover that 9 is an odd number. Then we try the same activity with 8 students. The students find a partner and discover that there is no "odd man out" so the number 8 is an even number. We continue this activity with the numbers 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.

We color code the even and odd numbers together on the board. Then, the students add this page to their math scrapbook. They can use it as a reference tool if they need to.

Whole-Group Activities:

This even and odd garden activity turns out so cute! Each student builds a numbered flower. I have each student use their student number to know what number flower they are building. They build their flower using that number of pedals and that number of leaves. They can easily tell by placing the leaves in pairs on their stem which numbers are even and which numbers are odd.

These are fun to display in the hallway or classroom!

For this name activity the students write and count how many letters they have in their name. They sort their name in the Even Steven column if they have an even number of letters in their name. OR they place their name in the Odd Todd column if they have a odd amount of letters in their name.

We go through some examples together on the Smartboard too!

This snack activity is another even and odd activity we do together as a class. The students get to make a snack for Even Steven and Odd Todd. Each student is given two blank cookies. They use black construction paper and cut out triangles to use as chocolate chips. They place an odd amount of chocolate chips on a cookie for Odd Todd and an even amount on the cookie for Even Steven.

I always love playing Scoot games with my class! It gives them lots of extra practice and gets them up and out of their seat moving around. For this scoot game I place a numbered card on each student's desk. They walk around and record an "E" if the number is even or an "O" if the number is odd on their recording sheet. Once everyone has finished with the activity we go through each card and the answers together as a class.

Additional Smartboard Whole-Group Activities

Throughout my unit I love to have multiple practice opportunities...especially as a whole-group activity using the Smartboard. Here are some of the Smartboard slides we go through together as a class.

Math Centers:

Here are some of my math centers I use throughout my unit.

For this center the students sort the dominos based on the numbers on each side. They are looking to see if the numbers on both sides of the domino are even, odd, or one of each.

We go through some examples on the Smartboard first so they know what to do at their center.

At this center the students use a deck of cards. They flip over the top card, decide if it's an even or odd number, and then sort it in the correct column on the sorting mat.

I also like to practice some examples on the Smartboard before they do this activity at their center.

For this center the students also use a deck of cards. All the cards are passed out to each player. Each player takes their cards and places them in a pile face down in front of them. On the count of 3 all the player will flip over their top card and place it in the center. The person who "slaps" the odd numbered card first gets all the cards. The object is to get as many cards as you can by watching for the odd numbers.

For this center the students have two puzzles to put together. First, they will take all the puzzle pieces and sort them into two piles. One pile that has the even numbers and one pile that has the odd numbers. From there they will work to put each puzzle together.

For this center the students place the even numbered houses on even street and the odd numbered houses on odd street.

This is another sorting math center. The students build two ice creams-one with even numbers and one with odd numbers.

The students work to put these puzzles together at this math center.

Finally, for this math center the students roll two dice. They add those two numbers together. They fill in the sum and circle whether or not the sum is an even or odd number.

I like to go over some examples on the Smartboard before they do this independently at their center.

Smartboard Story Problems:

I like to incorporate some fun even and odd riddles for the students to solve. We solve these together on the Smartboard.

Practice Pages:

I have multiple practice pages the students complete independently. I like to use these practice pages that have visuals for the students at the beginning of the unit.

Then, I eventually have them working on these practice pages without the visuals.

I always like to challenge the students by using big numbers. They catch on quickly that they only have to look to the number in the ones place to determine if that big number is even or odd.