Making Math Fun

 Making Math Fun

Learning new concepts in math can be both challenging and frustrating for many students. When new topics are introduced in my third-grade classroom, I like to utilize our practice time with various games. Many times, students don’t even recognize they are actually practicing important skills, both academically and socially. 

Our latest math topic is telling time to the nearest minute. Students worked in small groups playing various games. The best thing about working in small groups is the task cards they use for the games can be differentiated according to the level of the students in the group. Some students had to simply tell the time on an analog clock to the nearest 5 minutes. These cards had the answers written on the back to self-check. Other groups had to draw a card that had either an analog clock or a digital clock. These students had to either write the correct time on their whiteboards or set their Judy Clocks to the correct time. Not having an answer on the backs of these cards allowed the other students to check the answers. 

 One of the most beneficial aspects of these gameboards is that they can be used with many different types of question cards. We have used them in our class with multiplication and division fact cards, phonics words, and vocabulary words and definitions. Students often look forward to these enjoyable and educational games.