Implementation of Activities
This section of our website is dedicated to documenting the actual "application activities" that we explored with our students, that we observed in other classes, or that we learned about at Profession Development sessions. Even though many of these games were not tested during our time, we are documenting them as a means of having many useable lesson plan ideas within this one resource. We have divided the activities up into categories which you can visit by browsing the slide-out menu on the left hand side, or by following the links below!
NOTE: these activities are geared towards the grade 4-6 age group and curriculum
NOTE: these activities are geared towards the grade 4-6 age group and curriculum
General Implementation of "games" activities
During this practicum experience, I (Cheryl) experimented with some general game board-styled math games which I would like to mention during this section of our website as it really doesn't fit into any of our other categories. I was interested in finding a way to encourage students to practice questions in a way that was more engaging than just filling out worksheets. I would often make up "game cards" with questions from the lesson we were currently working on, or even just photocopy questions right from the textbook and cut them up as questions. Then I would get students to play with a few partners as they each took turns answering a question. I usually gave each student a whiteboard as well so that they could quickly jot answers. When students answered a question correctly, THEN they would roll a die to see how many spaces they were allowed to move. To even out the playing field between stronger and weaker students, I had also included many "trickster" squares that might allow one student to jump ahead some squares, or fall back some squares.
My observations - It was interesting to see how kids didn't seem to think that it was "doing math questions" as soon as I turned it into a game. I noticed that most kids playing the game were writing down answers on their whiteboards regardless of their turns because they wanted to make sure that the other kids were getting a correct answer and weren't cheating! I also loved how stronger students would often take on a leadership role to help the weaker students understand the concepts. Overall, it think that using general game boards such as the ones above can be easily-adapted to suit many different lessons and can serve well as extra practice for reluctant learners or students who are always done early.
My observations - It was interesting to see how kids didn't seem to think that it was "doing math questions" as soon as I turned it into a game. I noticed that most kids playing the game were writing down answers on their whiteboards regardless of their turns because they wanted to make sure that the other kids were getting a correct answer and weren't cheating! I also loved how stronger students would often take on a leadership role to help the weaker students understand the concepts. Overall, it think that using general game boards such as the ones above can be easily-adapted to suit many different lessons and can serve well as extra practice for reluctant learners or students who are always done early.
Math Fact Game boards
The following "Game Boards" help to explore a variety of math facts such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. I found these game boards in the University of Lethbridge Curriculum Lab, teachers within the area can book them out of the library! (Smart Arithmetic Brand)
Amusement Park
Worksheets from a "Boxcars and One-Eyed Jacks" PD session
I attended a session during SWATCA this year that used cards and dice to play math games. Although many of the games were very fun, most of them had to do with topics not discussed here during this PD project. These worksheets focused more on stuff like range, probability, number recognition, and place value. I have decided to include them here anyways due to the fact that they may be relevant for other teachers consulting this website, or may be useful in the future.
I attended a session during SWATCA this year that used cards and dice to play math games. Although many of the games were very fun, most of them had to do with topics not discussed here during this PD project. These worksheets focused more on stuff like range, probability, number recognition, and place value. I have decided to include them here anyways due to the fact that they may be relevant for other teachers consulting this website, or may be useful in the future.