Should math be fun?
Anita L. Gordon, Former ACSI Math Services Consultant, Math Instructor—University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
In an attempt to make math more meaningful to my children, I posed mental math questions when we were shopping, driving, or eating a meal. I thought that this was also a way to make math fun for my children. One day,my youngest and I were shopping and snagged a bargain: a forty-pound box of ripe bananas for only two dollars. I asked my preschool son to calculate the price per pound, hoping that he would remember some of the techniques I had taught him. “Well,” he said,“twenty pounds would be one dollar, and that means that ten pounds would be fifty cents.” He thought awhile and decided that, although he did not know the exact price, he was sure that they were “cheaper than dirt.”
As teachers, it is a challenge to make any subject we teach appealing and fun! How are we to compete with television, computerized games, and sports? What constitutes “fun” for the generation sitting in our classrooms? Ernest Benn said, “Liberty is being free from the things we don’t like in order to be slaves of the things we like to do.” Certainly, for some people, refinishing an antique piece of furniture would be a chore, while for others, it would be a refreshing change of pace and something they actually enjoy doing. As the end of the year approaches and you as a teacher are faced with reviewing for comprehensive or standardized testing, consider using games to reinforce math concepts. Your students may even have a little fun doing math!
A set of templates for you to use in constructing your own games is provided in this issue. Since you may use the same game for different math subjects, use a different color of card stock and/or paper for each new version to aid in keeping the proper game components together. It also helps in directing students concerning game pieces they need. For example, if you use yellow for a geometry bingo game and green for a math fact bingo game, you can simply say, “Use your yellow bingo cards,” when you use your yellow bingo clue sheet.We have also provided a completed sample game for each of the three games, each for a different grade-level band.
Game One
The first game is the standard bingo game. Make one copy of Blackline Master A, Bingo Clues. Write 24 problems, or “clues,” and the corresponding correct responses to complete the clue sheet. Once this is complete, write the 24 responses in the three columns of boxes on the lower portion of a copy of Blackline Master B, Bingo Card. This is now the master game card. Each student will need 24 color tiles or counters. Distribute a copy of the master game card containing the 24 responses to each student. Allow a few minutes for them to randomly write the 24 responses on the game card squares. Encourage them to mix up the responses, but to be sure to check them off so that none of the responses are omitted.You may choose to allow younger students to cut them out and glue them on the squares.
Explain that the first player to cover five squares in a row (down, across, or diagonally) and call “bingo” is the winner for that round. Read a random clue from the clue sheet, and check it off in the column R1 (round one). Repeat the clue. For a more difficult problem, you may choose to write the clue on the board. Tell students to use a color tile to cover the appropriate response on their game card. Remind them not to say the answer aloud. Continue in this manner until a student calls “bingo.” Have that student read the five responses so that you can check by using your clue sheet. If correct, the student is a winner. Have all students clear their game card and begin a second round, using column R2 to check off the clues.
The sample game provided can be used in the lower elementary grades for reviewing addition and subtraction facts.
Game Two
Venture is a game that allows students to work in teams to solve problems. It is a great tool for reviewing multiple concepts because the questions are divided into categories.You will need a timer for this game. Prepare the game board by making a transparency of Blackline Master C, Venture Game Board. Using a washable marker, write in the names of the six categories of problems for the selected topic. Using two copies of Blackline Master D, Venture Game Cards, make five game cards for each of the six categories. For each card, write the category in the outlined space, the problem or question, and then the correct response.The cards are already numbered 1 to 5 to correspond to their positions on the game board.The more difficult problems should be worth more points.You may cut the cards apart or leave them together.
To play the game, divide the students into three or more groups. Have each group select a spokesperson. Allow each group to choose a team name, and then write the names on the classroom board to keep score. Display the game board transparency and explain that the numbers in the boxes represent the number of points the team will get if they can solve the problem corresponding to that box. Have the first team spokesperson choose a category and a point number. For example, the student may say, “Percents to Fractions for 3 points.” Read that question or problem from the teacher’s set of game cards. It may be necessary to write some of the problems on the board. Allow a certain time (such as one minute) for the team to determine their response. When the time is up, the spokesperson gives the team’s response. If they are correct, record the appropriate number of points on the board for that team. If they are incorrect, discuss the right answer. In either case, mark off the corresponding box on the game board transparency. Proceed to the next team. Play continues until all boxes are marked off. The team with the most points wins.
The sample game provided can be used in the upper elementary grades and above for reviewing percents, decimals, and fractions.
Game Three
My Answer,Your Cue is a fast-moving game that involves interaction between the students. Copy Blackline Master E, My Answer,Your Cue. Begin by writing your first problem (or definition) in the lower portion of the starred card. Put the correct answer in the box on the next card, moving left to 
right down the page. You should design problems (or definitions) that have short answers. For example, the word sum is the correct response for “the result of adding two or more numbers.” Continue in this manner until you write your final problem in the lower right-hand card. The answer for this last problem should be written in the box on the starred card that you started with. Then copy your completed sheet onto card stock and cut apart the cards. Save your completed original as a key for the game. Be careful when writing your problems so that there are none with identical responses, or your game will be derailed! Note that you may use two copies of the Blackline Master and make a game having more than fifteen problems, but be sure to eliminate the star on the second page.
Shuffle the cards and pass all cards out to the students (some may get two), retaining the starred card for yourself as the starter card. Explain to students that the answer in the box on the card they are holding is the answer to someone else’s problem. They are to listen carefully as other students read problems so that they will know when to read their answer. Begin play by ignoring the answer in the box at the top of the starred card and say, “Your cue is …,” as you read the problem (or definition) on the lower portion of your card. The student who has the correct answer in the box at the top of his or her card says, “My answer is …,” and reads the correct answer. That student continues play by saying, “Your cue is …,” and reads the lower portion of his or her card. The play should follow the order, left to right down the page, on the original sheet that you are using as a key to keep the game on track. Encourage students to listen carefully for their own answer as well as for any mistakes. If someone thinks that someone else has given a wrong answer, allow that student to raise a hand to question the response. Play continues until the last cue given matches the answer on the top of the starter card that you, the teacher, are still holding.
The sample game provided can be used in middle school for reviewing metric and customary units of measurement.
While traveling through airports and train stations both at home and abroad, I have recently seen many people working on Sudoku puzzles. The people working these puzzles must surely be doing it for fun. Although solving these puzzles requires no mathematical operations, the logic used in solving them is definitely a mathematical concept. The strategy of try and check is a legitimate way to solve some real-life math problems. Maybe your students would enjoy trying some of these puzzles. In doing so, they will be exercising the same logical thought processes that are used for mathematical problem solving. You can find these puzzles and the rules for solving them in newspapers and on many websites such as www.sudoku.com and www.sudoku.name. Many websites have special sections for kids. As the school year comes to a close, keep your students engaged in math by providing interesting and challenging actiivities. Help dispel the myth that math should not be fun!
*Game templates are available in the attached PDF.
Math by Design volume 1 number 4