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Math

Making Math Fun

by Sarah Eshelman

Math is awesome! This is the attitude we, as teachers, want to impart to our students. Play games every day! Math games reinforce important concepts, while children have fun. Here are some easy-to-implement ideas on how to make math enjoyable in your elementary classroom.

The Hundred Game
Pairs of students take turns rolling two dice and adding the numbers together or multiplying the two numbers rolled. Players keep a running total by working out the calculations on paper. The first player to arrive at 100 is the winner.

Winner Takes All
This game is similar to the card game War. Use a regular playing card deck (with jokers and face cards removed or assigned a specific number). Students play in groups of two or three and divide all the cards among them. Players count to three and simultaneously lift out two cards from their personal pile. Each player adds or multiplies her own two numbers together, depending on the concept being practiced. The player with the highest number receives everyone's cards from that round. The player with the most cards after all the cards are played wins.

Bingo
In playing Bingo, almost any math concept can be used, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, geometry, and equivalent fractions. Make bingo math cards by cutting 8" x 10" pieces of poster board. Write 6 problems on each card in horizontal rows or in vertical columns. Give each student a bingo card. Use index cards to make answer cards. Shuffle the answer cards. Students can take turns being "callers" and calling out the answers to the problems written on the index cards. Use buttons or pennies to cover the bingo math card.

Rhythm Clapping
Integrate math with music. Together, students and teacher can clap out a simple rhythm using different time signatures and note values. Students will learn that a half note is twice as long as a quarter note---a concept that easily translates to fraction work.

Student-Made Tangram Pattern Cards
A tangram is an ancient Chinese puzzle. It consists of 7 pieces (5 triangles of various sizes, 1 square, and 1 parallelogram) called Tans, which fit together to form a square. The objective is to form a given shape with seven pieces. The shape has to contain all the pieces, which must not overlap.

Tangrams give students a tangible way to learn what geometrical shapes look like when rotated or flipped. Encourage students to use tangrams to create an animal or any shape. Have students trace the outer edge of the design onto construction paper or a small piece of poster board. Students then make an answer key on the opposite side of the paper, showing how the smaller tangram shapes make up the larger shape. Students can exchange cards and try to duplicate each other's tangram designs. (I have had students make their own tangram sets out of cardboard or poster board, but the store-bought sets are durable, easier to use, and fairly inexpensive.)

In addition to playing games, using real-life examples will show students how we benefit from math every day. As an introduction to a unit on geometry, ask students to bring in a list of polygons found in their home. Have them ask their parents how they use math every day. They will learn that their parents use math in activities such as measuring for recipes, balancing a check book, and calculating change at the store. When teaching how to graph numbers, take a survey of the class and chart everyone's favorite ice-cream flavor or pizza topping. Show the students how to use the data to make a bar graph and a pie chart.

Isn't math cool? As you implement these ideas, remember that as a teacher, your own enthusiasm is one of the most important factors in helping students enjoy math.

Sarah Eshelman is a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and has taught in Montessori and Spanish Immersion programs. She writes and teaches in St. Paul, Minnesota.

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