11/10/2016 12 Comments 8 Activities for Your Math ClubKeep These On Hand If You Are Moderator of Your School Math Club
Are you a newly appointed math club moderator? Or a pro looking for new tricks and activities?
I've been there, and realized that I wanted to start a collection of some of the activity ideas that would be great to share with the club when we have some time. Here are some that I have created, discovered, or stumbled across online (ALL FREE!) This way, we can have them all in one place for when we need to fill a full math club block or just a few minutes at the end or beginning of the meeting. These are mainly for middle school and early high school students. Hopefully these groups of kids will already have an interest in math and be excited to jump in to some of these! Calendar MathMobius Strips
A fun exploration that's accessible to students of any age, mobius strips are neat to see and interesting to take one step further. All you need is paper, scissors, tape, and a pen/marker. You can show students my video or lead them through it on your own. Can anyone guess what will happen if they make the final cut at the end?
Even you might be surprised if you haven't done this before! Kakuro Puzzles
These are great because they include instructions and options for different levels of difficulty. Kids can play online. This is a nice way to finish up the meeting if you have time to kill, or get a little competition started between club members while you wait for a math tournament if your math team travels.
Play kukuro here. Pi Shape Puzzle
This is another fun challenge that works for younger students. It's a cut-up shape puzzle for building spatial & geometry skills, but the extra twist is that the pieces start by forming the symbol for pi, then must be shifted to form a square. This makes it perfect for the mathletes in your club!
Here is the link for the Pi Shape Puzzle. Mayan Numbers
This is one of the coolest things to explore with your math team. Be sure to leave a whole meeting period so you can dive deep.
This is a perfect mix of math history and a higher level look at the concepts behind place value and digits. It will challenge even your high schoolers to try to approach numeric systems with different bases. This free hands-on exploration pack has everything you need. Million Dollar Problem
Kids love to imagine large amounts of money, so this one is a great challenge to get them thinking about. Be sure to show the picture at the end so they can see how much ten million dollars in pennies actually looks like.
Here's the problem... ...and the pennies Handshake Problem
This is a classic problem, but an excellent one for partner work. Have kids show how they worked through this scenario, and then share their different approaches with other teams. It's a perfect way to get them talking about their own models and strategies and comparing with how other pairs in the room reached the same conclusions.
Here is a wonderful setup for starting the handshake problem with your group. Brain Teasers
This set of brain teasers is so nice, because they are printable, and there are tons of them. It makes it so easy to use one per meeting to kick off and get started. These are perfect brain warm-ups.
Download printable brain warm-ups here.
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We expect students to write in every subject area. Just like reading across the content areas, writing across the content areas is a key skill.
With the shift to common core standards and concept-based learning, we are asking students to do more and more written work in math. They are expected to perform in writing on assessments to complete error analysis tasks, explain problems, justify solutions, and more. But, I've noticed that if we do not take a full day (or more) to explicitly teach this and practice it in context immediately, then we cannot expect our students to know what results we are looking for in their writing. They really are not comfortable writing out full responses in math until we model it, show them specific examples, and explicitly outline what is required. One of the best ways to do this is to offer a full class period or two in which you only cover writing expectations specific to math classes. Here are what I have found to be the basics to go over with kids during this lesson: Complete Sentences. Always.
They honestly do not ever expect to have to write in full sentences, because it's math class! I have now learned to incorporate "Explain in complete sentences" into the directions for any question I want them to write for.
You can ask them to offer at least three sentences (or more) when you are looking for a complete explanation of something. At first, they probably will not know how to finish those sentences, but that is why we go on to the practice afterward. Justify EVERYTHING.
Each statement that a student makes in writing must be supported. There are different forms of justification.
Give students examples of the different forms of "WHY" that we see in math explanations, and ask them to come up with samples on their own as you go forward. Remind them that each sentence can be followed up with a justification answering the question "why." Here are a few sample justifications that they could embed into an explanation: • Why did you use that process? • Why does that answer seem reasonable or not? • Why did you choose to do that? • Why do you think that? • Why is it an error? • Why will you start with that step? Include Examples and Counter-Examples or a Picture / Diagram if Needed.
The key to a good math explanation is to be clear and complete. If students want to offer a drawing to support their explanation, this can be a great addition. Sometimes it helps. Along these lines, they can provide examples or counter-examples if it can support their writing.
However, the full sentences must always be present. Any pictures or examples are just supplements. Now, Practice It!
Here are some of the ways that we use written explanations in math class:
You can practice each of these types of written explanations with your students. Explaining a Mathematical RelationshipExplaining a Method, Approach, or Thinking ProcessExplaining a ProblemExplaining a Choice or Answer
Be sure that students justify each and every part of their explanation with WHY!
My favorite approach for this "Writing in Math" lesson is an introductory doodle note that goes into the characteristics of a good math explanation followed up by stations where students practice right away (using the above prompts and additional ones as well). The full lesson pack for that is available for purchase here if you want it all fully assembled and ready to go.
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Take a quick peek to see what doodle notes are all about, how to get started on your own, and what's included in the eBook:
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Looking for a great way to introduce this strategy to your class? This free doodle note page teaches your students about the many benefits that happen when the two hemispheres of the brain work together. It's a perfect way to kick off the process of adding coloring, doodling, or sketching into your classroom learning routine!
This one is a great first doodle note to model and introduce the concept while getting students on board! They will enjoy it plus see the results when they remember the material so well afterward! To Read Next: |
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