10 tips and tricks to engage your students with math and formative

assessment in the classroom

Gary JohnstonSaigon South International School

April 18th, 2012

Overview-What you will LearnYou will be presented with and have the

opportunity to practice:5 Math “activities” that you can use in your

classroom to engage students, foster community relationships and help develop basic computational skills

5 Ways of assessing math “formatively” in a quick way that shows understanding of every single person in the classroom.

When to use theseBefore class or as a warm upDuring transitionsAs an energizerAfter a lessonAs a math center

Math Activities:1. Dangerous Digits2. Metacognitive Coaching3. Card Sharks4. Calendar Operations5. I have ______ who has _________?

Math Activity #1-Dangerous DigitsTimed ActivityIndicate that

students are going to have to find the +, -, X, of a number.

Put class in two lines and tell them a number.

If they get it wrong, remediate.

Struggling learners: easier problems.

Math Activity #2-Metacognitive CoachingOne person is the “student” who solves the problem, one is the teacher who “coaches”.

Student: Must vocalize their thinking out loud

Teacher: Cannot tell them if they’re right or wrong. Can ask questions such as:What strategy did you

use?How do you know you’re

correct?

QuestionBrenda’s father has five daughters. The names

of four of them are Cha-cha, Cheche, Chi-chi and and Chocho. What is the name of the fifth daughter?

a. Chuchub. Chychyc. Chu-chud. None of the above

Question:What is five days after two days ago?

Math Activity #3-Card SharksDivide students into groups

of 3-4 people. Maybe 5 in higher ability groups.

Cards are worth face value, face cards may be worth 11, 12, or 13.

All students put a card on their head without looking.

“Dealer” tells the sum and the other members use deduction and subtraction to find value of their card.

Whoever guesses correct is the new dealer!

Math Activity #4-Calender OperationsStart with the digits

of the calendar and then make an equation that includes all the digits using whatever operations you can think of!

Math Activity #5-I have_____ who has______?

Need to have enough “cards” for exactly the correct number of people in the room.

Teaches listening skills, focusing skills, group cooperation

Formative Assessment Methods

1. Thumbs Up2. Fist to Finger3. Numbered Responses4. Geoboards5. Exit Interviews

Formative Assessment #1-Thumbs UpUsed to check for

understanding. Thumb Up-Yes, or “I

agree”Thumb Down-No or

“I don’t agree”Thumb to the Side-

Not sure

Formative Assessment #2-Fist to FingerShows

understanding over a “spectrum”

5 Fingers=Yes, A lot, Very much

0 Fingers=No, I don’t agree, not very much

Formative Assessment #3-Numbered Responses

Students can use to give an answer to a problem.

Can be used for activity: “Calender Operations”

Great for whole numbers, estimation, decimals

All students hold up their answer

Formative Assessment #4-GeoboardsGreat for Geometry,

Symmetry, Angle measures, art

Each student “holds up” their answer to demonstrate their response to the question.

Formative Assessment #5-Exit InterviewsUsed at the end of a

lesson to debrief understanding, share insights.

Can be anonymous, or named

Can be collected and read aloud or saved to be read at the beginning of the next lesson.