Let’s Play Math!

Math concepts: multiplication, mental calculation, times table
Number of players: one leader (teacher) and two or more players
Equipment: free MINGO number cards and boards; bingo chips, pennies, or other tokens to cover numbers

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I heard of this contest in an e-mail from ClickSchooling:

Kids, share your creative math ideas! Describe how you use math in any activity you love to do — a sport, game, craft, hobby, or anything else.

Send in a description of the activity and it uses math, as well as any drawing(s) or diagram(s). There are many great prizes to be won. Please ensure you’ve read and understand our contest’s rules and regulations before entering.

Sounds like fun! If you want to enter, act quickly. Entries must be submitted online by July 30th. Visit Crazy4Math.com for more information and to check out the winners from previous years.

[Photo by Vox Efx.]

School’s out — and what could be more fun in the lazy, hazy days of summer than to study math? Check out these articles from Maria Miller of Homeschool Math Blog:

How to Help a Student Who is Behind in Math

Keeping Your Math Skills Sharp Over The Summer

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Photo by jaycoxfilm.

Math concepts: mental calculations, math vocabulary, and anything else you want to include
Number of players: any number, but I think it works best with two players who alternate asking questions
Equipment: imagination and, if necessary, scratch paper

Many years ago, I read a magazine article by mathematical music critic Edward Rothstein, wherein he described a game he invented for his daughter:

“What number am I? If you add me to myself, you get four.”

Rather than explaining the rules of the game, let me tell you a story…

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Photo by jetheriot.

One of the most common math questions on homeschooling discussion forums is, “How can I help my child master the math facts?” Unfortunately, when it comes to drilling facts, many children think math is spelled “B-O-R-I-N-G.” Worksheets are tedious, flash cards make them groan, and even the latest computer game is a yawner.

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Photo by MC Quinn.

Help! My daughter struggles with arithmetic. I guess she is like me: just not a math person. She is an outstanding reader. When we do word problems, she usually has no trouble. She’s a whiz at strategy games and beats her dad at chess every time. But numbers — yikes! When we play Yahtzee, she gets lost trying to add up her score. The simple basics of adding and subtracting confuse her.

Since I find math difficult myself, it’s hard for me to know what she needs. What’s missing to make it click for her? She used to think math was fun and tested well above grade level, but I listened to some well-meaning advice and totally changed the way we were schooling. I switched from using workbooks and games to using Saxon math, and she got extremely frustrated. Now she hates math.

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Photo by ninjapoodles.

Do you and your students have trouble keeping track of those pesky English/American measurements? Here is a great visual showing the relationship between common volumes:

How Many Pints in a Gallon?

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Photo by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com.

The cold came back and knocked me flat, but there are compensations. The downtime gave me a chance to browse my overflowing bookmarks folder, and I found something to add to my resource page. Princess Kitten and I enjoyed exploring these games and quizzes from Ambleweb.

Math games by elementary students

Each game was designed by (or at least with the help of) 4th-6th grade students at Ambleside CE Primary School.

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Now there is an ancient Greek letter,
And I think no other is better.
It isn’t too tall,
It might look very small,
But its digits, they go on forever.

— Scott
at Mrs. Mitchell’s Virtual School

Time to celebrate

Are your students doing anything special for Day? After two months with no significant break, we are going stir crazy. We need a day off — and what better way could we spend it than to play math all afternoon?

If you need ideas, here are some great pages:

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Photo by Brittany G.

I found this cute lesson on Meeyauw’s blog:

Heads or Tails: Curve-Stitching The Green

And that sent me searching for more St. Patrick’s Day math:

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If you and your students have enjoyed the Sir Cumference picture book series, then you will love these two worksheets from Waltzing Matilda:

Area and Perimeter

[Hat tip: Living and Loving Numbers forum.]

Math concepts: subtraction within 100, number patterns, mental math
Number of players: 2 or 3
Equipment: printed hundred chart (also called a hundred board), and highlighter or translucent disks to mark numbers — or use this online hundred chart

Set up

Place the hundred chart and highlighter where all players can reach them.

How to play

• Allow the youngest player choice of moving first or second; in future games, allow the loser of the last game to choose.
• The first player chooses a number from 1 to 100 and marks that square on the hundred chart.
• The second player chooses and marks any other number.
• On each succeeding turn, the player subtracts any two marked numbers to find and mark a difference that has not yet been taken.
• Play alternates until no more numbers can be marked.

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