Math Lessons

Tell your class it is time for math lessons, and you’re likely to hear a lot of moaning and groaning. Never fear – it is possible inject a bit of fun into the proceedings while still teaching your budding mathematicians everything they need to know to succeed.

For younger children, incorporate the things that interest them into your math lessons. Construct problems involving popular TV and movie characters, or use students in your class in word problems. You can also use your math lessons to help your class write a story. In the story, you can use techniques like saying the characters need to travel a certain distance at a certain speed, and then use math to determine how long the trip will take them. Then, use that number in the story.

Use any opportunity that arises in your classroom to turn every day things into mini math lessons. If you are going a field trip, have the class work with you to determine the cost per student and how many buses you will need to get, or if you’re having a class pizza party, have the class do the math to figure out how many pizza and sodas you need, how many kids like pepperoni and how many kids like cheese, and so on and so forth. This will let them see how they can actually use the math they are learning.

Older students will love the chance to compete during math lessons. Play a few round of “math Jeopardy,” “math Trivial Pursuit,” or any other game you want to create. Even playing cards can be useful tool for learning math. Reward the winners with homework passes, extra credit points, or other treats.

Math doesn’t have to be dreaded by your class. Make their learning experiences fun, and not only will you improve their math skills, but you will also be teaching the class to apply their new skills to real world circumstances.