Some things never change and one of those things is that kids still like to play bingo every now and then in math class.
Last summer I picked up the reproducible book Math-O published by Mark Twain Media/Carson-Dellosa Publishing Company. It says it is for grades 5-8+. I paid $9.00 for it and I have gotten a lot of use out of it. It has generic bingo cards in the back that can be easily copied and laminated and it also has templates for making your own games. The first forty or so pages are how to use the generic games for different skills like order of operations, fractions, exponents, percents, and basic operations to name some. I have made my own games to include the skills of positive and negative integers, big numbers, and more fractions.
Today the eighth grade group did a lot of positive and negative integer problems and didn't do a single worksheet. We saved paper, strengthened listening skills and had a good time practicing adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing positive and negative numbers. After one boy won both games in a row, I had him trade places with me to read the problems while I sat with the other kids and played. This gave me a chance to see how the other students were doing and give some instructive prompting, which helped review the rules for computation with integers. And the boy who took my place really enjoyed doing it!
At my last school we had a number of bingo games for the middle school grades that were purchased through the NASCO Company. Everything from pre-algebra bingo to mental math bingo. The students would always hope for and sometimes request a bingo day if we went for a long time without one. What a way to practice and learn!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
A New Game
I thought I invented a new game today--but then when we played it, one of my students said, "This is just like playing 'monkey'." So maybe there is a game like it out there. I started by making a deck of cards that has matching sets of two cards. The skill that I am reinforcing with my grade 8 group is using the distributive property to multiply expressions like 4(3x +2) to get 12x +8. So I made sets of corresponding cards with the expressions on one side and on the other side: Distributive Property a(b+c)=ab +ac
We played with three players but it could be played with four. The cards are shuffled and then dealt out equally to players with the last four or so left face up on the table. Then everyone looks for matches in their hands and with the cards on the table and puts them down. When everyone is ready, each player passes three cards to the player on their left, and begins the process over again. Then everyone passes two cards to the player on their right. Players keep looking for matches. (At this point if there are four players, you pass two cards accross.) Then everyone puts one card face uyp in the center of the table. Keep doing this until all matches are made.
Students who are a bit slower will catch up at the end of the game. We all helped each other figure out the matches, rather than making it a cut-throat competition. As I think about it now, it seems more like an activity than a game, but the kids got some good practice from it and much prefer it to doing worksheets. But we did count up how many matches each player got, so maybe it was a competition!
Some students had a hard time doing the problems in their head, so used a white board to do them out on. I observed that they were becoming more proficient by the end of the game. I've promised them that we can play again another time this week. It seems like they were consistently looking to me to verify if they had made a correct match, but this is a relatively new skill, that ther regular math teacher has just introduced, and I hope to see them become more confident.
I was going to call my new game "Distributive Dash", but the students already refer to it as "Monkey."
We played with three players but it could be played with four. The cards are shuffled and then dealt out equally to players with the last four or so left face up on the table. Then everyone looks for matches in their hands and with the cards on the table and puts them down. When everyone is ready, each player passes three cards to the player on their left, and begins the process over again. Then everyone passes two cards to the player on their right. Players keep looking for matches. (At this point if there are four players, you pass two cards accross.) Then everyone puts one card face uyp in the center of the table. Keep doing this until all matches are made.
Students who are a bit slower will catch up at the end of the game. We all helped each other figure out the matches, rather than making it a cut-throat competition. As I think about it now, it seems more like an activity than a game, but the kids got some good practice from it and much prefer it to doing worksheets. But we did count up how many matches each player got, so maybe it was a competition!
Some students had a hard time doing the problems in their head, so used a white board to do them out on. I observed that they were becoming more proficient by the end of the game. I've promised them that we can play again another time this week. It seems like they were consistently looking to me to verify if they had made a correct match, but this is a relatively new skill, that ther regular math teacher has just introduced, and I hope to see them become more confident.
I was going to call my new game "Distributive Dash", but the students already refer to it as "Monkey."
Thursday, November 20, 2008
God Bless Didi Romero!
A couple of years ago I purchased some of Didi Romero's materials on e-bay. Her user name there is koipondgirl. She seems to have a similar philosophy to mathematics education as I do. She has taught math to students at the elementary, middle and high school levels, both challenged and gifted.
In the forward of her booklet, Math...It's All in the Way you Play the Game, she writes, "It is my belief that if you make learning fun, students at all levels, regardless of age or ability, will be more willing to take the plunge and learn!" I couldn't agree more! But I also acknowledge that it is hard to make every minute of my lesson plans fun. Some things just require hard work and sticking with it until an understanding comes.
Lately, I have been looking over the materials I have from Didi Romero. We are gearing up to play Exponent Wars and Zero Out. In the past my students have enjoyed Wonder Words (which combines both language arts and math skills) Fishing for Fractions and Captured to name a few. If there is one thing that I have taken away from her work, it is the realization that I can also make up games to enhance the skills I am teaching.
I have never met Didi Romero, but her material is currently making my life easier and my students' learning more fun. So God bless Didi Romero--she has made a valued contribution to the mathematics education in my classroom.
In the forward of her booklet, Math...It's All in the Way you Play the Game, she writes, "It is my belief that if you make learning fun, students at all levels, regardless of age or ability, will be more willing to take the plunge and learn!" I couldn't agree more! But I also acknowledge that it is hard to make every minute of my lesson plans fun. Some things just require hard work and sticking with it until an understanding comes.
Lately, I have been looking over the materials I have from Didi Romero. We are gearing up to play Exponent Wars and Zero Out. In the past my students have enjoyed Wonder Words (which combines both language arts and math skills) Fishing for Fractions and Captured to name a few. If there is one thing that I have taken away from her work, it is the realization that I can also make up games to enhance the skills I am teaching.
I have never met Didi Romero, but her material is currently making my life easier and my students' learning more fun. So God bless Didi Romero--she has made a valued contribution to the mathematics education in my classroom.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Go Fish! for Math Concepts
Most people know how to play "Go Fish". Remember, that's the game where players ask each other for cards based on what they have in their hands and try to get the sets. Lately my students have been enjoying playing some math variations of this game.
The first is a commercial product put out by Legani Games. It is a simple box of cards titled "Geometry Definition Playing cards for Middle School Students". It is a deck of cards with three in a set based on geometry terms. One card has the name of the term, one has the definition, and one has an illustration. The great thing for the kids is that each set is color coded so they can tell which cards go together. They started out not knowing, but are at a point now where the vocabulary and definitions are becoming familliar.
I just made a set of cards so we can play "Go Fish" based on equivalent fractions, decimals, and percents. Each set has one of each. Students are required to ask for the card they want by using the percent of the set. So if the card in their hand says .29 they ask for 29%. I included some challenging sets like both 1% (.01) and 10% (.10)They also have to think twice on the percents greater than 100 like 1.6 (160%).
As we play these games, I see students learning vocabulary and concepts and having a good time.
The first is a commercial product put out by Legani Games. It is a simple box of cards titled "Geometry Definition Playing cards for Middle School Students". It is a deck of cards with three in a set based on geometry terms. One card has the name of the term, one has the definition, and one has an illustration. The great thing for the kids is that each set is color coded so they can tell which cards go together. They started out not knowing, but are at a point now where the vocabulary and definitions are becoming familliar.
I just made a set of cards so we can play "Go Fish" based on equivalent fractions, decimals, and percents. Each set has one of each. Students are required to ask for the card they want by using the percent of the set. So if the card in their hand says .29 they ask for 29%. I included some challenging sets like both 1% (.01) and 10% (.10)They also have to think twice on the percents greater than 100 like 1.6 (160%).
As we play these games, I see students learning vocabulary and concepts and having a good time.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Integer Challenge
I am presently reviewing computation of negative and positive integers with my eighth grade groups, so I made up a game.
I use a double dice (one inside another) to get a target number by multiplying. (I can call it negative or positive with advice from the group, but usually we alternate.) We then roll two operations dice to determine what operations will be allowed. I made a deck of cards that list single digit integers between -9 and 9. (Zero is not included.) Once we have the target number, we draw cards one at a time. The object is to be the first player to lay down some cards and tell how they can use those numbers and the designated operations to arrive at the target number. They get a point for the round and then play starts again. Students try to win the game by having the most points.
I use a double dice (one inside another) to get a target number by multiplying. (I can call it negative or positive with advice from the group, but usually we alternate.) We then roll two operations dice to determine what operations will be allowed. I made a deck of cards that list single digit integers between -9 and 9. (Zero is not included.) Once we have the target number, we draw cards one at a time. The object is to be the first player to lay down some cards and tell how they can use those numbers and the designated operations to arrive at the target number. They get a point for the round and then play starts again. Students try to win the game by having the most points.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Math: A Family Value
Last night my school had a seventh grade family fun night. I was set up in the library/media center running math skills bingo games and a capture the alien contest. The math skills bingo games were from the reproducible book Math-o for grades 5-8+ published by Carson-Dellosa. I have used this resource a number of times with my math groups. For the alien contest, players went to www.mathplayground.com and played the game "Alien Angles" and recorded their highest score on the entry form. Prizes were awarded for the highest score and also by random drawing. Math playground is a terrific website for students of all ages.
But the best thing about the night was seeing families doing math together. Parents and older siblings would help younger ones with math skills. Middle school students without families attending banded together to help each other. It was a great night of not only fun, but also learning and family and community bonding. Sometimes middle students think that everything schools and family have to offer is either lame or boring, but last night was a great turnout for the other point of view--that education and learning is exciting and interesting.
I strongly feel that a child's best assest for learning mathematics is their family. Not just the inherent aptitude they may inherit from their parents, but the environment at home that supports their education and allows them to participate in the mathematical tasks of the family. Everything from money and measurement to geometry and algebra can be found in everyday life and enhance the mathematical ability of children.
So as educators continue to teach mathematical skills, parents continue to provide mathematical experiences at home. Family fun nights are a great snapshot of how it all comes together.
But the best thing about the night was seeing families doing math together. Parents and older siblings would help younger ones with math skills. Middle school students without families attending banded together to help each other. It was a great night of not only fun, but also learning and family and community bonding. Sometimes middle students think that everything schools and family have to offer is either lame or boring, but last night was a great turnout for the other point of view--that education and learning is exciting and interesting.
I strongly feel that a child's best assest for learning mathematics is their family. Not just the inherent aptitude they may inherit from their parents, but the environment at home that supports their education and allows them to participate in the mathematical tasks of the family. Everything from money and measurement to geometry and algebra can be found in everyday life and enhance the mathematical ability of children.
So as educators continue to teach mathematical skills, parents continue to provide mathematical experiences at home. Family fun nights are a great snapshot of how it all comes together.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Math Spots
Math spots is a game that can be played by two players. I make up the template ahead of time so it reflects the basic math skill I want the students to practice. The template consists of five rounds with blanks written in math problems. For example:
Round 1
____ _____ + ____ _____ + _____ _____
Round 2
____ ____ ____ x ____ ____
Each player can have their own template, but I usually put them on the same sheet of paper and have them use opposite sides. Each player takes turns rolling the die (I have 0-9 dice which works best for this, but a standard die can also be used.) They must then put the number they roll on a blank in that round. When all of the blanks are full, each player figures the answer for their math problem. The person with the highest answer wins the points for the round. They then go on to play the next round. The winner has the most points out of the five rounds.
Round 1
____ _____ + ____ _____ + _____ _____
Round 2
____ ____ ____ x ____ ____
Each player can have their own template, but I usually put them on the same sheet of paper and have them use opposite sides. Each player takes turns rolling the die (I have 0-9 dice which works best for this, but a standard die can also be used.) They must then put the number they roll on a blank in that round. When all of the blanks are full, each player figures the answer for their math problem. The person with the highest answer wins the points for the round. They then go on to play the next round. The winner has the most points out of the five rounds.
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