Probability Games

Have your students learn about probability by letting them explore how and why it works! Make groups of 3 and introduce them to their first game: Flip two coins at the same time. If two heads are showing, player 1 gets a point. If two tails are showing, player 2 gets a point. If one tail and one head are showing, player three gets a point. Play the game for at least 20 rounds and have each group keep score. At the end of the game ask the groups if the game was fair, and to explain how they know. As you may know, this game is not fair because player 3's combination of a head and a tail will appear more often than the other combinations. Try to see if your students can figure out why. This is just one example of how you could introduce probability to your middle school students. Let the students play with probability - they will "probably" enjoy the unit more and remember what they learned for longer.



That's all for now! Thanks for reading!

Math Manipulatives

I learned how to add and subtract whole numbers in elementary school by using colorful blocks and counters. We can apply this same learning technique to teach students about performing operations on fractions. There are many different manipulatives that can be purchased or made for fractions. A great manipulative I enjoy using are fraction circles. You can buy a pack of these fraction circles which include several circles broken up into halves, thirds, fourths, fifths, and so on. Add a half piece and one fourth piece together and you have just added fractions visually. The same thing can be done with subtracting, multiplying, dividing, as well as visually seeing relative fraction sizes. What I mean by this is being able to see that two fourths = one half. This is a concept that may be difficult to learn when only seeing the numbers, but could be mastered easily for kinetically learners by using fraction pieces.
Evaluate how you teach fractions to your students, and consider using manipulatives if you are not already!

Human Box and Whiskers Plots

In middle school, students learn about box and whisker plots. One fun and interesting way to introduce students to these graphs is by having them make a human box and whisker plot. Give the students a note card and have them write either their height, number of letters in their first and last names, or any other characteristic you can use to sort the students. In the front of the class, students will line up in order. Discuss and find the quartiles, median, and end points. Use yarn to make the box with your students.

Here is a lesson plan on how to make human box and whisker plots in your classroom.


Human Box and Whisker Plots

Math on a number line

You are currently teaching a unit on comparing whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and percents. How do you make this unit more hands-on and interactive? Create a human number line! All you need is a long piece of rope and an assortment of fraction, whole number, decimal, and percent cards. You can set the rope scale to whatever you wish to fit the abilities of your students. Distribute the number cards one at a time and have your students determine where they fall on the number line. Change the scale and see how they do. You can even do this activity with algebra by introducing variables such as "x" and "y".

Here is a great article with some more ideas on making numbers come alive on a number line.


Number Line Article

Learning through computer games

Kids these days love to play computer games. My favorite computer game as a middle school student was Civilization. In the game you create and develop an empire through the ages until modern times. You can wage wars, develop allies, start new cities, build railroad systems, nuclear power plants, create militia, and so much more. I never enjoyed my history classes until I started playing this amazing game. It is unbelievable how much I learned from simply playing civilization.

I believe that students can also learn mathematics by playing computer games. Listed are a few sites that you may want to try in your middle school classroom!

FunBrain Math Arcade Math arcade takes kids through a variety of math games to complete. You can choose the skill/grade level (1-8).

Alien Angles Students are given the degrees of an angle. They must use familiar angles such as 45, 90, and 180 degrees to estimate the angle.

Shape Mods Students practice reflections, translations, and rotations in this game.

Space Boy to the Rescue This game has students practice marking points on a coordinate graph.

Fractions This is a simple game where students practice making fractions.

Place Value Millionaire Students can play alone or against a partner to answer questions about the place value of numbers.

Integer Jeopardy This game of jeopardy asks students to answer questions about adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing integers.

Welcome to my new blog!

Middle school students are full of energy. One of the best ways to teach a middle school mathematics class is to get the students involved in what they are learning through interactive and hands-on activities. Throughout this blog I will be sharing some of these kinds of activities with current and prospective teachers.