Math Engagement Ideas for Classes with an Incurable Case of Spring Fever

Wow! It's incredible how close we are to the end of the year. We have spring break near the end of March in Kansas and I feel like the year always flies after that. My last day is May 22nd and I know it will be here in no time!

So, now that we're getting close and the weather is warming up, are your students losing their minds or is it just mine? 😅

This is the time of the year when I start needing lesson plans to be more engaging than ever: require student to sit for only short amounts of time and include lots of discussion and engagement.

I wanted to share with you some of the things that I'm doing this time of year to keep students learning and engaged. This week we'll look at math specifically and then I'll share about reading next week. 😊

1. Blooket or Kahoot My students request these websites almost every day. They are a great way to have students practice skills either as a review of previously taught skills (especially around State Assessment time!) or the practice component of your lesson. We've been working on order of operations, triangles and polygons, and line plots lately and I've been able to find quizzes to practice all of these. Kahoot has added a lot of collaborative modes instead of just competitive modes, so it was a nice change of pace to have them all working together instead of everyone-for-himself sort of games.
   

2. Math Around the Room This is a simple one that gets kids moving and collaborating. All you have to do is either write or print out however many math problems you want them to solve and stick or hide them around the room. Students can find them and write the answers on a piece of paper then turn into you to check later. Make sure you're on my email list because I'll be sending out the Order of Operations/PEMDAS one I used this week with Easter Eggs. I send out freebies almost every week, so it's a good deal for a weekly email!
   

3. Self-Checking Mystery Pictures There are loads of these on Teachers Pay Teachers for pretty much any subject. You can use digital ones that you assign through Google Classroom or printable ones that are checked by the picture being complete at the end. I got my printable ones from WhooperSwan and digital ones from Printables & Worksheets, both on TpT.

   
   

   

4. Partner Folders You can put any skills they need to work on in these. They can sit and work with a partner or small group on worksheets to practice fact fluency, measurement conversions, shape identification, long division... anything! My students like to do this because they get to sit around the room and work with whoever they choose (as long as they stay on task!) Great websites for free math worksheets include K5 Learning and Math-Drills.
   

5. IKnowIt or MathMammoth I have used these websites a lot this year because they walk through students how to do it if they get an answer wrong. I have them bring a blank piece of paper and show all their work so I can see where they have messed up and what might need to be retaught individually or as a whole group.

   What are some things you do this time of year to keep your students engaged in math? Have a great week!

   
   

   Xx, Laura