Image Map

10 August 2015

Making Maths Just A little More Fun

I am going to say a honest truth …


Maths is often the type of subject you love or hate.


In primary school I enjoyed Math because I understood it but when I got into high school I really struggled with Math and consequently had a really negative attitude towards it.

As we all know Maths come into our lives every day so it is SO IMPORTANT that kids enjoy math so they do not switch off!!!
In light of this - it is my life mission to have as many (if not ALL) students in my class loving math!!!

What I am about to say is not anything new but I cannot stress enough how important and rewarding it is to go through a topic using the: concrete to pictorial to abstract phases but it can be hard due to a number of factors including:

Resources - 3 classes makes resource availability not easy but I have two super star peer teachers so we manage!
Students - to be able to handle manipulatives students need to learn clear routines, how to share and how to look after resources.
Time - that’s a big one! I feel like the war will be won but I will keep fighting! ;)


Despite the challenges the process is well worth the benefits but it can be hard to fit it in within the teaching time of a lesson. 

There are many different ways to spice up a maths lessons these are my small tips to make maths as fun as possible. . .



Dance and Sing

Dance and sing at any and EVERY opportunity possible!

It is very easy to sing and dance during a lesson by warm up to some skip counting or place value videos but it can further than that!

You can sing your lesson objective or make up songs and chants to go with a particular topic!

When we looked at patterns we did the chicken dance!!


There are plenty of YouTube clips for many math concepts if you don’t want to make up your own ones!

One of my good teacher friends teachers Pre-Primary and she sings songs to teach sight words like ‘the’ and ‘because’!

ACTIONS ACTIONS ACTIONS

As far as I am concerned anything that gets people moving is a GREAT thing!

I am very big on kinaesthetic activities - as an adult I find it hard to sit still for longer than 5 mins so I try my best to keep my kids moving as much as possible!

Actions are great to go along with a verbal and/or visual message!
They just provide another way to receive and more importantly remember a message.

I usually team actions up with my WALT and WILF so it becomes easier to remember!! J

Bring the Magic

Some  people hate gimmicks but I LOVE them!

I love themes!!

I love puns!!!

I love FUN! J

It doesn’t need to be a big huzzah!!!  I honestly think it is the little things that make a lesson exciting!

Dress up!

Serving up some synonyms come as a chef!
Looking at a particular story book - dress up as a character!

Pick a theme!

Buy some plastic tongs, bowls and salad tossers for centres to create an instant picnic theme!
Pirate theme for mapping!
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs for a chance unit!

Use manipulatives!

Not just math manipulatives - use toy animals as counters or pasta as a base ten and ones! Food is a great one! Use cookies and cereal to represent multiplication arrays!

Get creative!!!! Think outside the square!!! Pinterest is your friend here people!




  Learning Can Be Fun!

Sometimes it is about the process over the product. Not every lesson requires a worksheet.  You can show what you know in multiple ways!

  • Paint!
  • Draw a picture!
  • Use Playdough
  • Take photos!
  • Play games!
  • Cook something!

How do you make maths more exciting?!?! I would love to hear your ideas! :)






No comments:

Post a Comment