Math Around the Room

It's not a secret that I don't like to sit still for very long. I don't like my students to either. I teach a lot of lessons in short mini-lessons getting students up and moving quicker. Anything more than 10-15 minutes and students are on a one way flight to La La Land, come to think of it, I am too. I plan my lessons around short blocks of time in which I teach a lesson then actively involve the students in their learning. If I can actively involve students in their learning while teaching the lesson (ex: explicit instruction, which is a routine in our classroom)- Bonus! Anything to keep students engaged in their learning. I also designed my classroom around this idea. This year I have tables instead of desks. Students are allowed to work around the classroom with their clipboards instead of sitting at their seats. Centers are always set up in our classroom. I put my teacher's desk into storage several years ago to collect dust. I don't have time to sit at it during the day, nor do I want to. If I am sitting down, I am teaching a small group of students. 

One of my favorite math activities that came in our math program, created by Angie Neal, is math around the room. This is a review activity, so students have already been taught the concepts and have worked with them for a while. For this activity, I will tape cards around the room. I do try to be tricky with some of the cards hoping it is a challenge for students to find them. They get a kick out of finding the cards in crazy places. These cards are similar to flashcards. Sometimes the cards have base ten blocks printed on them, sometimes they have coins, sometimes they have clocks. Students have an answer sheet clipped on their clipboards and they walk around the room trying to find all of the cards and writing down the answers (counting the base ten blocks, coins, writing the time, etc.). When students are done with the activity, we go over the answers together. 

This activity could be developed for just about any concept. It is very similar to Scoot, another favorite activity in our classroom. Who knew learning could be so much fun?!