Students are so excited at the beginning of the year that it is a great time to leverage that excitement and make math engaging and memorable. I remember something my dad always said to us, “Start as you mean to go on”. Nothing is more true than starting a fresh, new school year with the intention of continuing on with great ideas, activities and results. Students take your lead and make up their minds pretty quickly about what subjects are going to be engaging and something to look forward to.
Before we get started with the nitty-gritty teacher talk, if you are working on transforming your math classroom into a space where students actively engage in their learning to practice fluency and math concepts, grab my 10 Free Math Activities. No gimmicks, no sales, no nonsense with this freebie- just one way I can help with making math hour the favorite part of the day for every student!
Why Should Math Be Fun?
I still remember a winter day in 3rd grade. I was looking through my teacher’s classroom library and picked up a Nancy Drew mystery. This was one of the first books that I self-selected. I was absolutely entranced with that book! From then on, I began reading every chance I got. My vocabulary improved, my imagination expanded, my knowledge of history and how other people lived snowballed and I began to experiment with writing my own stories.
Children can have the same experience with math. Creativity, curiosity, and collaboration can drive student performance in math, which can build confidence and motivate students to continue to learn. When we start a math session, we want our students to “lean in” and anticipate challenging tasks and rewarding payoffs.
What Happens When Students Look Forward to Math?
Picture two different elementary classrooms. In the first classroom, the teacher signals that it is time to get ready for math. Students groan, or sigh, and slowly get out their math workbooks. They seem disinterested and maybe even tired. The teacher begins the lesson, but has a difficult time getting students to respond to questions. Sound familiar? Now let’s envision a second classroom where the teacher transitions students into math by giving a brief summary of what will happen in math today. Students get up, grab the supplies they think they will need from the supply area and begin to inquire about what activity they are going to do today.
There is such a positive atmosphere when students look forward to experiencing math. They seem to be open to exploring, creativity and collaboration. It is interesting that students are more willing to try difficult tasks and can more easily talk about the process they used and the results they had when the math is engaging and challenging.
Moving from Practice To Purpose
Sometimes students just need to learn a new skill or procedure, or just spend time on fluency. It is necessary to “sharpen and organize the tools in the toolkit” to prepare for the “big build”. Make fluency fun with novel ways to practice computation and skills. Every time we are having students do this type of math, we need to remind them the ultimate goal is putting these new skills into practice solving real life problems.
After practicing math, it is time to use math in an authentic way. Every time a student puzzles over a problem and works through different attempts to solve it, they begin to recognize patterns, make connections and broaden their math problem-solving strategies.
The Land of Puzzlement
It is important to let students grapple with how to solve rich math problems. The human brain doesn’t like to be in a state of confusion for long periods of time, however, students experience a rush of endorphins after grappling with different attempts to solve a problem and finally figuring it out. Sometimes referred to as stamina or perseverance, it is important to grow this trait in students. Students begin to learn that the work of getting from the problem to the answer is the most important part of a person’s growth in understanding mathematics.
How To Keep Math Fun
The minute students start to get a little too comfortable in math class, I know it is time to shake things up. We want solid routines, but we don’t want to let go of creativity and being able to stop and solve a real problem “in the moment”. One year, I taught math right after lunch. I noticed once students came in and settled into their seats, they became sluggish and they lacked the energy they had in the morning. I switched things up so they had to solve a problem each day coming into class to figure out where they were going to sit for the day in math.
Make problems relevant to the world of students. Real world problems are great, but problems that impact students’ immediate world are even better. Grab My Activity Would You Rather?
More Resources
For more tips on making math fun and engaging, check out Maria Kampen’s post 15 Ways to Make Math Fun for Your Students.
Need help making math more relatable? Check out tip #18 with Mr. Elementary Math’s 30 Ways to Make Math Fun for Elementary Kids.
Looking for a fun and engaging beginning of the year activity to amaze and delight students? Check out my recent blog post about the Magic Problem at Sweet-Life-Learning.com.
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