Prepare for the End of the Year with Hands-On Math Games:
Prepare for the End of the Year with Hands-On Math Games:
April 23, 2023
24 Free Hands-On Math Games to Align with Your B.E.S.T. Areas of Emphasis and Make Review Engaging and Purposeful
Megan Cox, Uncomplicate Ed
Originally published April 23, 2023. Revised and revamped April 3, 2024.
BEST-Aligned Hands-On Math Games
We have found ourselves in April and the homestretch of this school year. The switch from FSA to F.A.S.T. has provided some students with the gift of additional time to review and revisit their previously learned knowledge. This is wonderful but the question going through many educators' minds in Florida right now is, “How can I best prepare my students to show off what they know for PM3 with this extra time?” The answer is hands-on math games.
Why hands-on math games? “Math games provide a structure and process for children to problem-solve to reach a particular goal or objective. Reaching that goal might be challenging, but the challenge is also what makes game-playing fun” (Reed & Young, 2018). By implementing math games, you are providing an incentive to your students to “unlock their achievements” in math.
Rutherford (2015) with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) provides further benefits as to why students should play math games.
Math for All
Math games are appropriate for all ages and grades. They also either already exist or can be created for the majority of mathematical concepts. As a bonus, math games often require the practice of the B.E.S.T. Mathematical Thinking and Reasoning Standards (MTRs).
You can download your free Uncomplicate Ed MTR poster HERE or check out our blog on the MTRs in action HERE.
Where to Start: 5 Steps to Purposeful Implementation of Math Review
Step 1: Determine the Data
As always, instruction should be determined by data. PM2 was administered quite some time ago so we suggest the utilization of data from:
Current unit assessments
Recently administered benchmark assessments
Data collected from your class in the past 30 days (anecdotal notes, exit slips, etc.)
Identify 3-5 content strengths and growth areas that were indicated based on the data. Download the reflection tool HERE.
Step 2: Identify Content that is the “Best Bang for Buck”
With time being of the essence, it is not possible to do an in-depth review of all of the content from the school year. Due to this, we suggest that you identify your grade level's Areas of Emphasis and Focus Skills / Test Design Summary and Blueprint (K-2, 3-8+).
4th Grade Areas of Emphasis, from FLDOE B1G-Mfldo
Step 3: Identify Your Students’ Needs
Next, you’re going to reflect on each Area of Emphasis for your grade level on a scale of 1 to 5. This will guide you on what Area(s) should be focused on.
Step 4: Pull the Data Together
Now that you have all of the pertinent information for your grade level, it’s time to identify your final 3-5 areas of growth that you’re going to focus on. These may be the same that you started with in Step 1 but they may also change. Below are some guiding questions to facilitate your reflection while identifying your content gaps.
Guiding Questions:
Which Areas of Emphasis did I rate the lowest? Of the skills within them, are any of them “hinge” skills? In other words, the understanding of many other skills hinges on the mastery of these.
Which NSO benchmarks within the Areas of Emphasis are my students missing or need more practice with?
Which of my lowest-identified skills do the students just need more practice with or quick reteaching, in other words, they are close to understanding? Which skills will need more extensive teaching, lessons, and practice, in other words, they are far from understanding?
Which benchmarks combine many skills for my students to practice in one (for example, solving word problems)? Can I just work on that one overarching benchmark and that will give them the practice they need with the others?
Which number sense or operations sense (foundational skills) from previous grades, might be holding my students back from a deeper understanding of more complex skills in their current grade? Are there some that if understood could trigger a wave of understanding and application through many other skills?
What parts of the lowest-identified skills do my students not understand? I.e., is it the entire benchmark? Is it just a portion of the benchmark? How “far” are they from understanding?
Step 5: Make the Data Actionable
Now that you know what needs to be addressed, the next step is to make a plan. Identify the duration that you have to review before PM3. If you want a free download for a planning calendar, go HERE (same reflection tool as Step 1).
Dice on a Line: 4th Grade Area of Emphasis 4
You already know how to address the concepts that you identified as gaps in various ways
such as whole group review, small group instruction, homework, centers, etc. The purpose of this blog is to provide a structure for selecting math games to address your student’s knowledge gaps and ultimately increase their PM3 scores. The final step is to identify games that address the gaps you identified.
To begin to uncomplicate this process for you, we identified a game for grades K-5 for each Area of Emphasis. You’ll find this guide with an example of a game or free resource for each Area of Emphasis for Grades K-5 HERE.
If you’re looking for more games, check these out:
Math Games with a Deck of Cards, A Collection of Math Games from the Positive Engagement Project
Free Games by Grade Level, From the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
In Summary
There is still time to prepare your students to end the year strong, and it goes beyond worksheets and typical test prep. Make review fun and purposeful with hands-on math games. Implement them now, and be ready to make them a regular staple of your classroom next year!
References
Reed, K. E., & Young, J. M. (2018, April 25). Math games to excite young minds. Development and Research in Early Math Education: Math Games to Excite Young Minds. Retrieved April 3, 2023, from https://dreme.stanford.edu/news/math-games-excite-young-minds
Rutherford, K. (2015, April 27). Why Play Math Games? Why Play Math Games? - National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Retrieved April 3, 2023, from https://www.nctm.org/Publications/TCM-blog/Blog/Why-Play-Math-Games_/#:~:text=Students%20can%20build%20understanding%20by,Standards%20for%20School%20Mathematics%2C%20p.
For B.E.S.T. training for your school, check out our website or contact me directly. We’ve been helping schools all over the state and would love to help your school be ready for the B.E.S.T. and the F.A.S.T.
Let’s Talk it Out on the Socials: (links at the bottom of the page)
What are some other ways you've helped ease your students' minds before a big end-of-year test? Share some thoughts at any of the socials below!
Share this post:
