During this time I piloted a 7th grade honors math course for 6th grade students at three HCS locations.
We like to have fun. And we do have fun. But for optimal amounts of fun, there must also be order. Here's how we play Kahoot!
Instructions/Pacing
Grading Rubric
Partner Critique
This made for a super fun end of the year project! Student researched colleges, homes (some students even called realtors in their city of interest), vehicles, vacation spots, and charitable organizations! It was awesome to watch students use math skills to lay out a plan for their million dollars. Before presenting their Million Dollar PowerPoint to the entire class, each student completed and received a peer review.
At the end of each unit, I provide students with a "math menu" outlining various ways that students can share what they learned. Several students chose to write & perform math songs for the class!
For a quick, fun, spirited review of how to plot ordered pairs, I provided students with a blank sheet of graph paper and the appropriate points to outline the Grinch. He may have stolen Christmas, but he didn't steal our math cheer.
My mom always said, "math is like a game," emphasizing its puzzle-like qualities. My students took things a step further by designing their own games focusing on seventh grade mathematical standards. If you're interested in the details of this activity, look for "Math Board Game" on the resource page.
Who wants to sit upright in a straight-back chair for eight hours every day? Not me.... so I don't force my students to either! While there are definitely scenarios where a desk is best, when circumstances allow, students choose their own seat around the room. With a light tap on the head for off-task behavior, back to their desk it is. But that doesn't happen often with comfy bean bags as a motivator.
One of my favorite things to do is to put students in the driver's seat. Here a student shares a Kahoot! she prepared herself to lead the class in a review of types of angles.
Teaching three separate math courses, 6th grade math, 6th grade honors math, and 7th grade honors math, to about eighty sixth grade students, I was required to differentiate my instruction quite a bit! Separating students into three courses allowed for a bit of natural differentiation to occur. Even so, within these three groups, students started the year at the 2nd grade to 10th grade level. My job was to ensure that every child experienced success while receiving rigorous and relevant instruction.
One of my favorite ways to differentiate is for each student to have unique product. Using a math menu allows this to happen without too much of a hassle. Plus, students have a great time!
Interested in other resources?