Math Fun

Sometimes I'm not sure how to incorporate some fun activities into the actual content I'm teaching. Luckily, I have a few teacher tricks up my sleeve. It's amazing how a simple practice worksheet transforms when you add a play element to it. Here are two "games" I play in my class sometimes.

Tic-Tac-Toe. The students work with a partner to solve problems, but now we're turning it into a game. Person 1 declares which problem they want to do. If they're right, they get to color that number box on their sheet. Then Person 2 states which problem they're going for. Eventually, they plan the problems based on their tic tac toe moves!

Pirate Game. Well, that's not it's name. We don't know the name of this game. But it's amazing how creating a little competition has everyone focusing! All that happens here is that the students are told to solve one, two, or three problems at a time. Then get checked by a teacher. If they're right, they get to go to the SmartBoard to click on a number box. One of the boxes has a hidden treasure underneath. If it's not the one they chose, they rush back to get started on the next set of problems so they can go up again to choose another box before the other groups find the treasure.