You've Got Mail!

I've planned this idea since the summer but have finally decided to use it to boost my class as things have been a bit more hectic since the new year (2015). Each student has their own "mailbox". I purchased them here and here. Whenever students do something remarkable like, participate, help another student, be attentive, follow directions, try their best, etc. I make sure to write a note on the colored cards. The size fits perfectly into the mailbox (whoever did the measurements is a good mathematician)! I sign these notes and date them. I call them by groups to "check their mail."

They are very happy to receive one and take them home to their parents! It has been helpful in getting students motivated to stay on task and make their parents happy. I want to have something at the end of the year for students who've accumulated a certain amount. I've been advising them to keep a stash of these notes somewhere safe. It can't be a pizza party... Help!

Squares and Powers

As I mentioned previously, I would be updating with a short clip of the students using the dice game recently. I will likely upload a game or two of the students playing at some point.

Square Dice

We've finished the last unit (Number Sense) working with the physical coordinate plane to learn about absolute value, integers, ordering and plotting. We have started to learn about expressions and equations. So far I've taught students about what a variable is, as well as rules i.e. a - f  + f = a, and b * c / b = c. The first fun activity we've started to do with this lesson is using Thinkfun's Math Power Dice. I first bought a pair of these after a trip to the Math Museum, but you can also find them on Amazon.

Rules of the game: There are two players and two sets of dice. Player one rolls the blue and red dice to get the "target number". The blue die represents the base, and the red die represents the exponent (i.e. if the blue die lands on 4, and the red die lands on 2, the target number is 16 because 4 squared = 16). Player two rolls the three normal dice. These numbers are then combined in any way shape or form using the operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, even exponents) to get the target number or come close to reaching the target number. You can ONLY use each number and each operation once. 

How it works: One player will call out a number and explain how they arrived at that number. The second player has 15 seconds to either get the target number, or come closer to the target number than the other player's number. If the player is unsuccessful in doing either of these after 15 seconds, the player forfeits the point. The first player to reach 4 points first wins. I will upload a video later of students playing. There is room to modify the game to your liking and to your students. I changed the rules to needing only 3 points to win, and I actually don't think that there's a restriction on the number of times operations can be used, but I've only allowed students to use each operation ONE time.