Games in the Classroom! FUN! FUN! FUN!

This time of the year with test pressure behind us, lots of teachers are looking for fun ways to review or unwind. I have always loved using games in the classroom, but they can easily get out of hand or become huge time-wasters if not structured the right way. The best way I've found to structure game times is to use a timer!! This is very simple, very effective in getting a cooperative response from your students, and keeps you in a facilitative role instead of looking like the bad guy for stopping the fun!
These games are intended for grades 3-8 and include:
1. Math Madness: An Interactive Power Point Quiz Game.All answers are linked to a "Correct!" or "Oops!" page so students can play independently. (Grade Level Specific)
2. Overloaded Liters where students work through a visual representation of the place value system while earning cash for answering simple conversion problems.
3. Metric Mountain, a more advanced game that I developed for my high and gifted elementary students to practice metric conversions with decimals. This game helps students to develop an understanding of the inverse relationship between the size of pieces and amount of pieces being compared in equivalent decimal numbers such as 5 decimeters and 50 centimeters.

Sorry, this Raffle has ended, but you can still find these games by following the links below.

No Prep Math Madness Interactive Power Point, Overloaded Liters, and Metric Mountain! 

(These games were designed for grades 3-8 aligned to the Common Core Standards).

Visit my online store to download a free copy of Equivalent Fractions Games, a Power Point presentation that will teach your students how to add and subtract unit fractions using blocks. Templates are included so you can print your own blocks if you don't have plastic ones.

             

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5th Grade Common Core Math Quizzes for FREE!

Last week's freebie was the 4th Grade Common Core Math Quizzes, this week 5th grade is done and posted!

Grab the 5th Grade Common Core Math Quizzes for ALL Standards for FREE before they become a paid product. The Quizzes can be used as another document of mastery in your Student Portfolio Binders, or sent home to share progress with parents.

       

One of the most difficult standards for me and my fifth grade students is the big jump from operations with whole numbers to operations with decimals. Fourth grade introduces adding and subtracting fractions, but in one year, fifth graders are expected to master all four operations with fractions and decimals, including visual representations. Ouch! Not to mention the other clusters! This can be tricky and students need a really solid understanding of number and place value concepts first.

Some of my favorite tools for teaching fraction and decimal operations are:
1. The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives Fraction-Rectangle Multiplication which teaches students to break apart an array into fractions along each axis, just like multiplying whole numbers. If the axes are labeled correctly, students can find fractional products really easily!
The application allows you to visually solve proper and improper fractions, as well as test students. They model the algorithm next to each rectangle array.

The only downside is that the application will not allow you to set up a 10 x 10 grid for multiplying decimals. Once students are familiar with the set-up, they could easily use graph paper to model tenths.

2. Decimal Squares
The program worksheets may look out of date, but the representations are timeless! There are different packets of skill practice that help kids build the background knowledge they need to solve decimal operations with models and algorithms.

If you're not able to purchase another program, you can use the idea of modeling spaces on graph paper. Once students can do operations in one place value (.5 + .2; .07 - .03) then they can learn to break apart multiple place values (.25 + .13) with the same operations.

I also found the idea of open arrays to help with modeling. An open array is just rectangles divided into labeled spaces by place value. It allows kids to multiply in smaller pieces and then add them together.

The 4th Grade Bundle was just published last week in my TpT store. The 5th grade Bundle will be available mid-week, once the Quiz Freebie expires.

I will announce each grade level set as it is finished, so please KEEP in TOUCH!
The quizzes will only be free for a few days, and then they will become paid products. You can see the updates on my Facebook page, my Pinterest boards, or here. Just click the "Follow Me" buttons.

                                              Thanks for stopping by!