Cool Games
Math Games
Differentiating in math is a critical attribute of successful teaching. Differentiating means to take a given objective and design a lesson that creates multiple avenues of learning. Avenues that enable children to receive new information in meaningful ways and to also express their knowledge in successful ways. Herein lies the crux of your lesson planning; can the students express their comprehension of the subject matter in a way that demonstrates they understand your stated objective? After all, stated objectives must be tied to measurable standards and having kids be successful at these standards is the most efficient way for a teacher to positively impact student learning.
Take for example my first game titled Salsa Math. Salsa Math? Catchy title - it certainly piqued my students' interest and laid the groundwork for optimizing student preparedness to learn. More than just a catchy title though created the learning atmosphere. The completeness of the planning included multiplying and dividing fractions (Argh!! How boring!) by correctly doubling, tripling, halving or quartering amounts of salsa ingredients (Hmmmm? What was that?) The tangibles in this lesson were so cleverly tied to state standards the kids didn't know this was actually a math lesson. In fact, they thoroughly enjoyed participating in the game and waited in anticipation to partake in the final product.
- Mr. Jones has a fabulous homemade salsa recipe he likes to make. He uses one whole avocado, 1/8 teaspoon of salt, six cherry tomatoes, 1/4 cup of fresh corn, 1/3 cup of raw onion and one tbs. of olive oil. When he is done mixing the ingredients, he dices up one slice of cheddar cheese into twenty four pieces and then melts the cheese over the salsa. The last step is to serve with five chips. This recipe is enough for four people during The Super Bowl.
This information was supplied in table form easily allowing kids to view the quantities. Students were given the ingredients and were instructed to work in their cooperative groups to create the salsa exactly as the recipe called. I then posed the next dilemma: