Using Band challenges in math?

If any of you were ever in band, you understand the concept of challenges.  You challenge someone to move up in chair order.  I LOVED challenges!  One thing I hated to do, was practice.  But, challenges motivated me to practice.  A few years ago, I started Math Facts challenges.  They signed up to challenge each other on one set of facts (7's, 8's, etc...).  They could also challenge ME!  They loved to challenge me more than each other.  They were very motivated to beat me.  I did not slow down for them.

The 2 students would get 20 problems and have 1 minute to finish them ALL.  If I'm being challenged, I do the same sheet as the students with the same expectations.  To win, they have to have them ALL answered correctly!  If both students have them all correct, then the one who finished first wins.  I tell the students to stand up as soon as they are finished.  It can be time consuming, but it's very motivating for the students.

I added these trophy sheets to my Challenge wall.  You can get these for free here.  In the trophy, where the line is, I always put in the fact that they won on (like x7).  

I am looking forward to giving this a try again this year.  I would LOVE to hear of any suggestions that you have for making this work.  

To help students be held accountable for their multiplication facts, I have created a weekly math fact program.  I did this with my students last year and it was very successful.  Here's a copy of the math facts class chart that I had hanging on my data wall. 

Here's the link to my multiplication product.

Math Facts Mastery

Have a great evening!

Andrea

Geometry

So, we just finished up our geometry unit.  With the Common Core standards, our textbook does not cover what needs to be addressed for 3rd grade....Quadrilaterals.  It was difficult to find the necessary resources to teach this as I had none, but I made it through.   My students seemed to really enjoy what they were learning and they were really grasping the content.  After reflecting on the unit to see what I would do differently for next year, I really decided that I wouldn't do much of the teaching any different.  But, I did decide that I needed to create a hands on activity for them.  I created a Quadrilateral Attribute sort.  Although my students were assessed on the content yesterday, I introduced this activity to them today to see how they did with it.  They really enjoyed it.

This is a picture of the 3 of the mats featuring 6 quadrilateral attributes and their sort.

Students collaborating on the sort.

Students used this sort to determine the similarities and differences between different quadrilaterals.  This was a great visual for them.  Before today, I had just told them and explained to them that a square is a rhombus, but a rhombus is not a square. 

One of the reproducibles for them to fill out from this sort.  

I really liked the conversations that were coming from this activity, and they had already finished the unit.  As all teachers say...Next year I will...  Next year this will be an activity to help introduce the attributes and to finish it up.  If you are interested in this product, you can get it here.

What are you saying "Next Year" to?

Andrea