Math – The 50’s Club 2013-2014

Half of my kids in my math class are ones we had from last year.  Since we’re a homeschool co-op, most of us move up with our kids, repeating grade levels only if we have younger children.  As a result, we see the same faces year after year.  It’s no wonder we grow to love these other children as our own.  We’re with them a lot!  The kids in last year’s class knew what to expect when they came into my math class, but the new ones were shocked as I instructed them to stand in front of the door, with at least one hand up.  If you don’t know what the 50’s Club is, you can read about it here.

I don’t care what age your child is, or how proficient you think your child is with times tables, if your kid takes a math class with me, he or she will end up in the 50’s Club.  I cannot shout the praises of this review program loud enough!  I used the drills from Times Table Challenge, and it is the bomb-diggety!  Just make sure you make copies of the pages – do NOT use the book as a consumable, because the student might need more practice than just twice!

They all start out on Level “A”.

Movin’ up!

Reach for it!

 

 

Math: 50’s Club

In math, we have speed drills for multiplication.  I try to make it as fun as possible, because a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down, right?

Our speed drills are called, “The 50’s Club.”  I give them a sheet of 50 times tables that they are to fill out correctly in 3 minutes.  If they get it right, they get a snack, and then they get to move up to the next level.  Almost all of my students are competitive with not only each other, but with themselves.  We use Times Table Challenge, and I highly recommend this book!  Just make sure you make copies of the pages – do NOT use the book as a consumable, because the student might need more practice than just twice!

To make it fun, I took pictures of the kids in silly poses, but with at least one hand reaching up(I didn’t want to end up sticking a thumbtack through a head, after all).  Then, I had the pictures developed, cut them out, and pinned them up according to their level.  Now they get to see themselves moving along.  They loved it!

There are the kids – all lined up and ready to move on to the next level!

Math – Multiplication Facts

Never ask the same problem twice again!

I noticed that my 4 math students were struggling with their multiplication facts.  I decided to help them learn them by turning our reviews into games.  The first game was actually suggested by one of my students.  Emily proposed we play “Around the World.”  In this game, all the kids stand up.  I ask each kid a math fact, and if they get it right, they get to move to the next chair over.  If they don’t, they have to stay put until their next chance.  When we first played this, I had trouble thinking of new multiplication facts off the top of my head.  Silly, huh?  Oh well, to help with that, I got out my trusty jumbo popsicle sticks and proceeded to write down ALL the multiplication facts.  I then put them in a decorated bucket.  Now when we play ANY type of facts review game, I use my bucket to draw the fact from!  I’m such a genius…

For the next game, we tossed a beanie baby around the room.  The kids stood in the four corners and as I threw the doll, they caught it and shouted the answer.  That woke ’em up!  It didn’t go quite as planned, as we ended up hitting the ceiling fan.  Whoops!  Mea Culpa, fan…

I’m in the process of designing a new game.  I think it’ll be a long the lines of… Candyland.  That’s all I’m going to say on it.