We’ve been talking about playing math games here for the last few weeks. We’re almost done with this series, but today I’d like to address the best times to play math games. Because it’s important. As they say, timing is everything! Part of using math games successfully in the classroom is knowing when to play them.
There are two parts to this:
when to play math games,
and when NOT to play math games.
What are the best times to play elementary math games?
1- Review- Playing games are a great way to review math skills before a computation test or at the end of a unit. Kids who have the skills down will still be engaged and challenged rather than bored, and kids who need extra practice are getting it.
It should also be said here that I used games at the beginning of the year to have kids review previous year’s skills. When I taught 4th grade, they played several multiplication games at the beginning of the year to help remember their facts. I didn’t teach basic facts, students learned those in 3rd grade. But I had to build on those A LOT. I used games as a way to review and refresh those.
2- Practice – This is the obvious one. Do you need to provide more practice for a difficult skill? (I’m looking at you, equivalent fractions) Did your school’s curriculum come with only one or two worksheets for a topic and you need those for homework or a sub? Or maybe it just came with crummy worksheets, or pages with not enough problems to get the idea really ingrained. There are all kinds of reasons fun math games work well to provide practice.
3- After introducing a skill, but not right away- This one is the zinger for most teachers. You need to get past the guided practice part. Kids really need to learn the skill before practicing in game format. Consider games to fit into the independent practice part of the lesson. You’ve introduced and walked them throughs several practice problems. You have checked for a basic level of understanding. I’ll address this a little more in the other section below about when not to use games.
4- When you have an unexpected chunk of time and you don’t want to waste it- Maybe an assembly got canceled and you have an unplanned 45 minutes. Math game! Maybe a lesson went faster than normal. Maybe you had to take another teacher’s kids as well as your own for a bit and you can’t do your planned lesson with them there. Having a plethora of math games, with various levels and times needed to play them, is a great part of your teacher tool kit.
5- Indoor recess. I’ve mentioned in previous posts that my students chose math games during rainy day, snow day, high heat day, etc… schedules more than any other activitiy. I had silent reading, art supplies, journal writing, board games and puzzles available for indoor recess. More than half the class would choose fun math games from the game center I discussed in this post. As a sidebar to indoor recess, any friday afternoon (or really any time of day) that students are feeling a little squirrelly is also a great time to play.
6- As a reward- This one is genius! I can’t take credit for it though. One of my own children had a third-grade teacher who used points as a reward system. It was one of those teacher vs. kids behavior reward points things, just tally marks on the white board, nothing fancy. But she wanted to do something not candy related (which I loved her for). So she made each reward day a different party. I’m not talking juice and cupcakes here. I’m talking something educational. Sounds lame? The kids ate it up!
She had a garden party, where kids planted items parents donated around the campus. She had an art party where a parent who was an artist came in and did a project with the kids. She had a craft party with simple crafts at stations where kids could rotate and make things. She had a cooking party where she taught the kids to make their own tortillas and they cooked them on a hot plate and ate them (Which was also curriculum because it was a dual language Spanish class and in that grade they were studying Spanish and Mexican local culture in southern California). They also had a reading party where they could bring blankets and healthy snacks and read whatever they wanted.
The next year I had another kid in her class. I asked her if she thought the kids might like a math game party. She loved the idea. I gave her math games to go with her units and she taught kids how to play them during those topics. Then for a party afternoon, about 3/4 of the way through the year, when they had learned a ton of them, they got a free reign with the math games and were able to snack on trail mix and drink bottles of water while they played all afternoon. They loved it!!!
With all the details of the best times to play math games worked out, there are a few things I should mention about when it’s not the best time.
When NOT to play math games:
1- When you’ve just introduced a skill- There’s a distinction I want to make here. Skills should be introduced first, but THEY DO NOT NEED TO BE MASTERED TO PLAY MATH GAMES! The games are what help them practice and learn. And some of those moments will be tied to emotional feelings such as loss or victory. A kid who struggles with 6×9, but remembers it for the winning move in a multiplication game, will likely remember it far easier in the future. The games are the process by which the skills are mastered. But they are not introductory. If you show how to do a problem on the board 2-3 times and then hand students games, there will be a lot of frustration on behalf of the students. Make sure you’ve done sufficient guided practice before moving on to independent practice.
2- When you don’t have enough time to play it right- Remember what I said in this post about making sure you have enough time to set up, play, and clean up.
3- Before you’ve sufficiently demonstrated how to play- I’ll be addressing this in detail in the next blog post. But the gist is to make sure you’ve explained and SHOWN how to play thoroughly enough that everyone knows how. Again, you’re avoiding frustration levels here. Both kids’ frustration levels while playing the games and your frustration level while dealing with their issues.
And there you have it! My top tips for best time to play/not play math games. Hopefully you’re already feeling more comfortable introducing them into your day! If you missed the first few posts with great, research backed, tips for playing math games in the elementary classroom I’ll link them below.
And don’t forget to download your math mystery pictures with equivalent fractions – FREE!
11 Reasons you should play math games in the classroom
3 Great Tips- How to Choose the Best Math Games for Your Classroom
