Instructions:

Tic Tac Toe with times tables is a very simple yet motivational game for students.

1. The teacher separates the classroom into two big groups – one group of students is called the X’s and the other group is referred to as the O’s.

2. One person from each X and O group is called up to the board and given a pen.

3. When the students are ready, the teacher then says the multiplication table problem that needs to be solved. The student who answers correctly and writes the correct answer on the board is also awarded the X or O (depending on what team they are on) to place on the grid on the board.

4. Once the first person has gone up to the board, the process is repeated until everyone has had a turn. This is used as not only a score board, but to see which side of the classroom can successfully complete a full row of X’s or O’s.

Tips:

It doesn’t have to end there. If the kids really get into this game, you don’t have to announce a winner at the end of the first lesson. You can let them know that you are keeping track of who is winning and continue playing week to week. You can even have them play twice a week. This will keep them excited about each time they play and they will know that if their team didn’t do well on the first lesson they still have a chance to win the next time around.

You can also reward the students with the most correct answers by allowing each student to be the team captain. If there are more than two students, you can have them take turns until everyone is able to be the team captain.

To make this game even more interesting you can reward the students with a variety of treats. A good idea would be to purchase candies that are circular and X-shaped. One possibility is sour apple rings for O’s and gummy worms for X’s.

After trying this, you will see that Tic Tac Toe with times tables is a very simple and yet, still motivational game.

…….and for review, here is an additional fun game for learning times tables:

http://www.math-lessons.ca/timestables/times-tables.html

Did you know that most people in general tend to do better with any activity when they are competing against someone else? One great way to accomplish this is to incorporate a technique through a fun and stimulating school activity.  The way that this game works is that each student is given different times-tables problems.

Each problem is given a certain point amount. For each correctly solved problem that the student has correct, they are assigned the amount of points associated with that problem.  For example, 1×1=1, they would be given 1 point; 2X2=4, and so on. If the student answers the problem incorrectly, they do not gain any points.  As a matter of fact, they lose the amount of points that correspond to the problem they answered incorrectly. This technique gets the children even more interested in learning multiplication tables as well as answering the problems correctly. It will also get them motivated to correctly answer the equations, especially those with the higher numbers so they can accumulate more points.

At the end of the assignment each student’s score is added up and the person with the most correct problems, as well as the most points is designated as the winner. If there is more then one winner, then you can do a sudden death match and have each player compete against each other until there is a winner. Or you can reward both of them with the title of “Multiplication Masters” and they can be the designated team leaders when you play this game another time.

You can also add even more fun to this game by breaking the class up into teams and assigning 5 players to each team. This allows the students a chance to interact with each other and learn the value of teamwork, plus for those students that are struggling they will be able to work with other students that can help them out.

By incorporating this fun game into your teaching plan, learning multiplication tables will be a lot more fun for kids, plus they will benefit from working with other students. They will also learn a valuable lesson that integrates the concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Materials:

A 4×6 Poster or any size you desire

Construction Paper

Dark Marker

Regular Paper

Pen

Glue

Adhesive Tape

Teacher’s Instructions:

1. Find a poster board with a popular cartoon character or age-appropriate movie that will appeal to the students. An example would be Sponge Bob Square Pants or Harry Potter.

Make sure you find a picture that is sturdy enough to cut into pieces as well as easy to cut, or you can use the construction paper to support the back of the poster. Use the glue as adhesive for the poster and the construction paper.

2. You can break up the picture into as many pieces as you would like. Cut the desired number of sections to make the number of puzzle pieces.

3. Write a variety of different multiplication table problems on a piece of paper. This will be for your eyes only.

4. On the back of each puzzle piece, you can write the answers that correspond to the puzzle piece problems you previously wrote. Also, be sure to add some type of adhesive to the top of the puzzle piece so it will stay on the board.

Classroom Instructions:

This excellent activity involves using the multiplication tables to put together the pieces of a puzzle to form a picture. Each multiplication problem that is answered correctly, corresponds to a specific puzzle piece and where it should be placed on the board. The teacher will be instructing the class and have students come up to the board to solve multiplication problems in order to accomplish the solving of the multiplication problems and the piecing of the puzzle.

Depending on what grade this is for, the multiplication problems can vary in difficulty, from very basic to advanced. When you have completed the game, the children will see the end-result which is the completed puzzle.

…And making times tables easy learning, remember our brilliant Bingo Game:

http://www.math-lessons.ca/timestables/times-tables.html

Materials Needed:

One egg carton with 12 slots

Black Marker (Sharpie)

2 different colored medium sized rounded beads

How to design the egg carton:

Take the egg carton and using a black marker, write numbers inside each of the bottom of the slots where the eggs were. There should be 12 slots. Take the beads and place them inside the carton.

Game Instructions:

Have the students stand in a circle. Start the game off by handing one of the students the egg carton with the beads inside. Instruct the students how the game is played (by shaking the egg carton and then opening it up to see where the beads have landed). The students will then multiply the two numbers where the beads have fallen.

Each student who answers correctly is allowed to stay in the game and continue to play. If the student answers the problem incorrectly, they are taken out of the game. The game continues until there are no more remaining players.

Tips:

You can keep track of who answers the most answers correct and give them a special privilege, such as being the head facilitator of the game the next time you decide to play.

To make this game more challenging you can time each person so they are limited on the amount of time they have to come up with the answer. Also, if they cannot come up with the answer within the specific amount of time then they are also taken out of the game.

Teachers can also have the students make their own personalized carton if they see that the students are interested in the game. This way the student can practice this game at home to help them learn the multiplication tables.

Instead of using black markers, you can decorate the egg carton with cute stickers and other adhesive embellishments to make it even more attractive to the students.

Original post: 
Sarah Jane learn the EZ Times Table©

Knowing the times tables is just a shortcut. if you understand the math, you don't need to know the tables as you can always work out the answer. But you must know one or the other, lest you end up unable to manage your finances and people steal

continue reading…

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There are certain constructive guidelines that will help you and the children you teach be motivated. First off, it’s wise to remember that making the worksheet like a game and keeping it fun will entice the child to want to do more. Build a challenge into the task you set for the child so that he or she will want to rise to the challenge. Remember, nothing worth doing is easy, but for a child it’s good to make it enjoyable. A bad experience with a math worksheet could easily set the youngster off the whole subject entirely. Use the elementary math worksheets that you know the class is capable of but then act as if you’re not sure if they can do them. Saying things like,

“These problems might be very tricky for you,” is a great motivator.

Teachers should also watch they don’t demoralize students accidentally. Those who know certain things can inadvertently put off those who don’t and it’s especially easy for an adult to crush a child’s confidence. Always remember, it’s a teacher’s job to facilitate and not take over. To that end, make sure to keep your hands off the student’s elementary math worksheets, even when they make mistakes that you would find east to correct.

There are three things you should never do as a teacher and these are: Hold the worksheets up in front of the child when they can hold them by themselves. Pick up a child’s work uninvited and them what to do when you can just as easily give them a choice. Another common problem occurs when the child struggles with a particular problem presented on the elementary math worksheets. Here it’s best for you to let them linger on it for a few minutes before solving it for them. If you let frustration linger for too long it could become as demoralizing as the aforementioned mistake.

Remember to make it fun as well. Although elementary math worksheets are an important phase in their development, you don’t need to let them know how serious they really are. When the child grows tired or fidgety, change the pace of materials or move on to a brand new activity. There will always be time to come back to the worksheets later.

Fractions Worksheets
Multiplication Worksheets

3. Incorporate computers into your math lesson plans. There is a vast amount of math building skill games available and, moreover, you will be teaching your elementary student important computer skills.
   

4. During other parts of your lessons plan, ask your children to do things by using math. Example: you can ask your students to get out 15÷5 pieces of paper or 2X3 folders. Incorporate the math into everything you do during the day.
   

5. Bring children friendly tape measures to school and teach your students to measure each other first teach them how to read the measurements). Break your students into pairs and have them measure each other.
   

6. Personalize your math lessons, especially when counting, by letting your students count how many things they have at home; I have 4 dogs or my mommy has two cars.

7. This may seem simple but use flash cards as these can be pulled out at any time during the day to reinforce and repeat the math problems you are working on.

8. Instead of asking your students to solve word problems, have them figure out what steps are needed to solve it, maybe even start with a math problem that uses the steps in the math word problem. (If addition and subtraction are needed, do a few of those math problems first)

9. Take your math lessons outdoors and measure your student’s shadows at specified points during the day.

10. On sunny days, teach your students about diameter, circumference, and ratio by measuring around a tree’s trunk and measuring its shadow. Start by holding a ruler to the ground, at a 90 degree angle from the ground, and measuring its shadow; from that ratio of measurements you can accurately estimate the tree’s height.

11. The outdoors is also a great tool for learning charting and temperature measurements. You can chart the temperature changes, pollen count, precipitation, when the sun rose and set, etc…

12. You can even teach your students to chart how long it takes you each day to go places in the school (lunch, restroom breaks, etc…) and compare the times.

13. Use small packages of multi-colored candies to teach probability. Have your students sort the candy into piles of different colors and chart the numbers. The students can then figure out the ratio of each color and then figure out what the probability of selecting in particular color candy our of a large bag is.

14. A simple, yet effective tool in teaching math is repetition.

15. Alternate between lecturing, games, worksheets, and other activities so you can reach each of your students (who all have different learning styles).

16. Use items, such as buttons, so that your students can create different numerical equations. Example, if you have 8 buttons, your students can write out 4+4=8, 2×4=8, 16÷2=8, etc…

17. You can write out on the board different categories of shapes (geometrics) and then have the students find things in your classroom for each category. (Tiles on the floor are square, trash cans are cylinders, the clock is a circle, etc…)

18. Have weigh-ins in your class, if it’s your students or different objects in the classroom, to teach the different weight measurements.

19. This may seem obvious, but get the parents involved. Assign activities that have to be done at home or even over the summer to encourage continued learning.

20. Have your students keep a math journal. This can help them record what they have learned, what they are having problems with, answer specific questions you have asked about math, even graphing things that happened at home (what time they had supper, when the phone rang) etc…

21. If your school will allow it, actually tape different math problems in the bathrooms, that way your students will be thinking about solving math problems un-routinely during the day.

22. You can encourage your students to learn multiplication (or whatever part of math you are learning), depending on there level of knowledge, by having a quick quiz right before lunch; the first one to finish the quiz is first in line, the second is second in line, etc… Eventually, the students at the end of the lunch line will study more so they can get lunch first.

23. To help those shy students and encourage students to help each other all you need are green and red cups because, if during a math lesson (or any lesson) you can ask if everyone understands the math problem, those who understand lift the green cup, those who do not the red one. In addition, the student can leave the red cup on the corner of his/her desk to receive more help when practicing what you taught them.

24. Try a new twist on baseball. Instead of using a ball and bat, use math problems. Have your class divided into two teams, who ever would be the batter is asked a math question, if he/she gets it right he/she moves to first base; it the answer is wrong, the team gets an out. (You can choose however many outs it takes to switch teams)

25. A greater than/less than game that is good to play any time you have spare time is to think of a number in your head (between 1 and 25) and let your students guess at the number; you can say something like it is greater than the number your student guessed or you can say the number I am thinking of is greater than one but less than 25.

26. Have your students, especially if they are having a problem, explain to you what needs to be done in order to solve the math problem, this way they may see what they are doing wrong while reinforcing what you have taught them.

27. Come up with as many different ways as you can to teach the same problem.

28. You can use different textures, such as sand paper, to cut out numbers and help your students learn how to write the numbers by tracing the cutouts.

29. Label different containers in your classroom with what goes in them and the amount of that item that goes in them so that when your students are cleaning up they have to use math to do so.

30. This works, especially if you need a quiet moment! Ask your students to be silent and not move for an entire minute or two and help them to time it; this helps them learn how long a minute is while learning to read a clock.

Before you begin teaching your students times tables, be sure they understand grouping. Grouping is the foundation of multiplication. Without it, times tables are memorized facts that have little meaning. A student who has trouble memorizing times tables can still figure out a multiplication problem if they understand grouping.

Use egg carton math. Egg cartons are a wonderful way to teach grouping. Have students bring in egg cartons and some type of small objects. Objects could be buttons, beads, pom-poms, or even macaroni. Explain that the multiplication sign means “groups of,” as in 5 x 4 means “5 groups of 4.” Use the pockets of the egg cartons to hold groups. Give the students a simple problem, like 2 x 3, and show them how to make 2 groups of 3. They count the objects to answer the problem.

Be sure to show students that 2 groups of 3 and 3 groups of 2 are the same thing. This will help them understand that 2 x 3 and 3 x 2 are the same thing.

Making sure students understand groups and grouping will help when you begin teaching division. Dividing into groups will make sense.

Another method of teaching grouping can be done with a dice game. Divide students into pairs. Give each pair one die. The first person rolls the die. The number they roll is the number of circles they draw on their paper. If they roll 3, for example, they draw 3 circles. They roll the die a second time. The number they roll is how many dots they put in each circle. So, if they roll a 4, they put 4 dots in each circle. This gives them 3 groups of 4 dots. They count the dots, and that’s their score for the round. Each student plays 4 rounds. The highest score wins.

Times Tables

Once your students understand grouping, they are ready for times tables. While the old method of rote learning, repeating the tables over and over until they are memorized, can still be used, many students learn better if you use methods that engage their minds and the rest of their senses.

Play a memory matching game. Make a deck of cards with the problems being learned, such as the 3s from the multiplication table, and turn these face down on one side of the play area. Make a second deck of cards with the answers, and turn these face down on the other side of the play area. The student flips over a card from the problem side, then goes to the answer side and flips a card. If the answer is the right card, then both are left face up and the student gets another turn. If not, then both are turned back over and the next student gets a turn.

This game can be used in any size classroom. Just divide the students into teams and give each team the needed cards.

As the students learn more of the times table, problems and answers can have more variety, allowing them to practice more than one set at a time.

Word games. There are several types of word games that can help students learn times tables.

Rhymes – Try to rhyme the facts. “I’m sure there’s tricks to be plenty sure that 4 times 6 is 24.” Sure rhymes with 4, tricks rhymes with 6, and plenty sure rhymes with 24. Some facts rhyme on their own, like 6 times 8 is 48.

Mnemonics – Use stories to remember facts. “The family of 4 went to dinner at 8 on 32nd street.”

Cadence – A cadence is the rhythm that soldiers use when marching. The students can come up with their own for time tables. For example, “6 times 6 is 36, eating oysters makes me sick; 6 times 7 is 42, better stop and tie my shoe.” You can even have the students march around the classroom or the playground while reciting their cadence.

Times table bingo. This works like regular bingo, except the caller calls out multiplication problems instead of numbers. The students mark the space on their card that is the answer to the problem called. This is another game that grows as the students learn more tables, with more problems and answers being added as students progress.

As you are teaching times tables, remember to show students examples of how this information applies to the real world. Knowing how they will need this increases the student’s interest in learning. In addition, keep in mind that you are teaching them facts they will need for every math class they will ever have once they leave your classroom. Take the time to make sure the students understand. That is more important than whether you stick to a certain schedule. Most of all, have fun and let them have fun, too.

Times Table Bingo >>>

Time Tables Worksheets >>>