Have you ever had that moment when you felt that you just weren't making math exciting enough for your students? Your students were bored, you were tired of the same old routines, and you all needed something new, fresh, and exciting? Don't worry, we have all been there as teachers. Especially in my first year of teaching, I felt like I hit that low point many times. I am here to help you out! Below are a few tips and some 5th grade math games to play in the classroom to get you started in rethinking the way you teach math.
1. Move away from worksheets. We all know that worksheets are sometimes needed to provide notes and give basic practice problems, but making your students complete paper after paper can drain the life out of math. Try an interactive project or an online program to take the place of a worksheet.
2. Try a real-life group project to practice and apply the learned math skills. Have students work individually or in groups to create a poster. Provide an interactive, real-life activity to have students practice what they have learned. Making math relevant to real life will engage your students more than you could imagine. Have you ever been asked the question, "when will we every use this?" by your students? They want relevancy and practical application in their work just as much as you do as the teacher!
3. Play a game. Kahoot provides a great platform for math review games. Use Quizlet to review math vocabulary terms. If you are feeling adventurous, create your own 5th grade math practice games. I recently endeavored to create my own escape room math challenge. The students loved searching the classroom for clues and math problems to solve. The escape room was fantastic review for an upcoming assessment.
The use of 5th grade math rotation games are a great way for your students to enjoy learning and provide choice. Choice is huge in the classroom when students need to review skills. I create stations around my classroom often. These include the worksheets, practice task cards, online programs, and 5th grade math games worksheets that we would normally utilize in different ways. The students choose to rotate around to the different activities at their own pace and review skills in a variety of ways.
Below are some images of a real-life activity I did with my students when studying unit rates. We collected home items (really just trash!) and I labeled each item with an amount and price. The students used the worksheets and calculated the unit price of ten items to then compare the prices.
These are just a few ideas to get you started and spark your imagination. Teaching and learning math can be so much more fun for you and your students with these 3 tips for interactive 5th grade math! If you are interested in trying out a simple set of interactive games, click HERE or on the 5th Grade Math Games Decimals images below.
Do you need digital online 5th grade math games activities for your students? I have a FULL YEAR of standards-aligned 5th grade math forms that can be used as a quick check, assessment, or an interactive math center activity. These Digital Google 5th Grade Math Quick Checks are available by clicking on the link images below.
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