Category Archives: Games

Games

Flyswatter Review Game – Powerpoint Template

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You’ve got to love ANY game that gets kids JUMPING for math!  This game does just that!  I got the idea from Kate’s blog.  I am a floating teacher, so taping the answers on the board wasn’t practical for me.  Instead, I created a Powerpoint presentation that can move from class to class with me.

How it works:

First, split the students into two teams and arm them with flyswatters.  I taped a line on the floor that they had to stan

d behind.  Then, I put up a powerpoint slide that contains definitions in boxes.  A question pops up at the top of the slide and the first person to “swat” it wins!  In the case of a tie, the swatter on the bottom wins!  This game can move FAST, so I added a pop-up yellow box to indicate the answer after they swat.  This way it is quick.  They love seeing the yellow box pop-up!  You could also put answers to questions in the boxes and put the question at the top.  At the end, I did a “Speed Round” where the answers in the boxes were short so kids could read them quick.  The Speed Round was a blast!

The file is a PPT template with instructions.

Or, you can just download the PPT file (not a template) with instructions.

Happy Swatting!

Update: If you want the actual Geometry Review Game – it’s here!

MATHO Review Game – Powerpoint Template

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MATHO is a version of Bingo.  It is great for review.  Students work problems and then if they get the problem correct they get to mark off a number on their MATHO board.  First person to get five in a row wins!

I used to play this game all of the time, but had forgotten about it.  When I brought it back, I used technology to make it better!  I put the MATHO board (word document) into a page protector with dry erase makers, and a Powerpoint to make it very easy for me to implement in the classroom.

Procedure:

  1. Pass out MATHO sheets inside page protectors and dry erase markers.
  2. Students pick any one space to be a FREE space.
  3. Students randomly number the remaining blocks 1 – 24.

I put up a problem and students work out the answer on their whiteboards, then show it to me.  If they get the answer correct, they get to mark off the number I call out on their MATHO boards.

For instance:  After the first problem, I call out the number 14.  If they get the problem right then they can mark off 14 on their boards.  I mark off each number on the mini-Matho board in the bottom corner to keep track of the numbers I have called.  This also helps check to see if their numbers are accurate when they call out MATHO.

As usual, about 1/2 way through the class a student calls out MATHO! and gets a prize from the prize pail.  At this time, I have all students erase their entire boards, renumber, and then we start all over.  Before I used the “erasable” MATHO board I would just keep going and say, “next one to get 5 in a row” or “first one to get the whole board” to keep them going.  But, erasing and re-writing the board so you can start all over prevents 6 students from getting MATHO again in 5 minutes at the same time.

Files for MATHO Game:

http://www.box.net/shared/y4n217vfq1

I am new to Box, so if the link doesn’t work please let me know.

http://www.box.net//static/flash/box_explorer.swf?widget_hash=y4n217vfq1&v=0&cl=0&s=0

Making Middle School Magic – Powerpoint Jeopardy!

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Yes. Today was simply magical in my 6th grade classes!  They came into class with Weird Al’s “I Lost On Jeopardy” rocking the classroom at full blast!  I had them dancing like crazy before class began.  I even had a few guess, “Are we going to play JEOPARDY?!?!?”

I put them in six groups (two to three students in a group) and gave them whiteboards. The rules were that ALL group members had to agree on the same answer and ALL members had to have all of the correct work on their boards. I went i order around the room and let each group pick a category/point value. However, if they MISSED the question then another group got to try to answer it. I picked this group by rolling a dice.

I used a PowerPoint Jeopardy game that I found online and tweaked. I found a Jeopardy theme song midi online and added it to all of the question slides. Although the music got really old for me by the middle of the second class, it added a bit of fun and even excitement to the game. The music made the kids try to “beat the clock”.

This game went so well! The kids worked harder than I have ever seen them work! Most importantly, they worked together better than I have ever seen! They were all intensely engaged and at the end of class they even BEGGED for just one more math problem!  (Which I of course could not help but give them – to the detriment of their next class, sorry JuRu.)

I need to work on this game some more as several of the links were corrupt. Also, you could not tell which questions had been selected. I am actually going to create my own game with all of the bells and whistles and then post it here so please check back!