Fun Math Game, Middle School Level
Just finished a two day sub assignment at a middle school, sixth grade math. At this level they are still working with basic arithmetic, add, subtract, multiply and divide. This week it was working with decimal places in multiplication problems, so I was able to help the kids a lot with their work. Usually I avoid math assignments in higher grades because it is not long before my arithmetic skills are eclipsed in the curriculum. But these couple of days were fun, if tiring and I also learned a very cool math game.
One of the periods had several more kids than the average, all of whom while being nice enough were more energetic than average, and as a result one of the seasoned veteran paraprofessionals was assigned to work the crowd. I can't speak for other subs, but my heart leaps with joy when one of these folks comes into the room. The kids instantly improve their behavior when someone who knows all their names is there, and it is also a great help for two adults to be helping the kids with the work. It is very hard to do crowd control and also keep up with the individuals who may not be up to the same level as the rest of the class. But we always do our best, which in my case is never quite enough but then I am only a sub and the regular teacher will be back in harness the next day while I am off in some other room muddling through as best as I can.
A real high light of this past assignment however, was the math game the Para (Mrs. Harris) taught the class. The object of the game is for the kids to guess a three digit number that the leader of the game selects. Players raise their hands and offer guesses that the leader of the game writes on the board. Guesses are awarded a letter evaluation as follows:
Continue the guessing until someone is correct. Good idea to have a pocket full of Jolly Ranchers as a reward for winners. As is the case with their music, I detest the Jolly Ranchers, but the kids seem to be crazy about them. Go figure.
* The woman who taught me this game had a different word for the F letter than fogerty, which I have forgotten, but back in the day when I was fishing off the Oregon coast for salmon and we shared our daily catch over the radio in code Fogerty was the word for a one hundred fish score; somewhat better day than I usually managed to scratch up, so it was a real thrill to use that word, but that is another story altogether.
One of the periods had several more kids than the average, all of whom while being nice enough were more energetic than average, and as a result one of the seasoned veteran paraprofessionals was assigned to work the crowd. I can't speak for other subs, but my heart leaps with joy when one of these folks comes into the room. The kids instantly improve their behavior when someone who knows all their names is there, and it is also a great help for two adults to be helping the kids with the work. It is very hard to do crowd control and also keep up with the individuals who may not be up to the same level as the rest of the class. But we always do our best, which in my case is never quite enough but then I am only a sub and the regular teacher will be back in harness the next day while I am off in some other room muddling through as best as I can.
A real high light of this past assignment however, was the math game the Para (Mrs. Harris) taught the class. The object of the game is for the kids to guess a three digit number that the leader of the game selects. Players raise their hands and offer guesses that the leader of the game writes on the board. Guesses are awarded a letter evaluation as follows:
- B (bagel) = No digits correct
- P (pica) = One digit correct, incorrect position
- F (fogerty*) = One digit correct, correct position.
Continue the guessing until someone is correct. Good idea to have a pocket full of Jolly Ranchers as a reward for winners. As is the case with their music, I detest the Jolly Ranchers, but the kids seem to be crazy about them. Go figure.
* The woman who taught me this game had a different word for the F letter than fogerty, which I have forgotten, but back in the day when I was fishing off the Oregon coast for salmon and we shared our daily catch over the radio in code Fogerty was the word for a one hundred fish score; somewhat better day than I usually managed to scratch up, so it was a real thrill to use that word, but that is another story altogether.
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