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Teaching Theme of the Week

by Gary Hopkins, Editor-in-Chief, Education World®

Students play a game in which they practice timed math activities.

Subjects: Arithmetic

Grade: 3-5, 6-8

Objectives
Students will:

• practice timed math activities.

Keywords
flash cards, timed, math

Materials Needed

• math flash cards appropriate for the grade level you're teaching or a quick mind ready with appropriate math problems

Procedure
Have students sit in a circle on the floor. Ask one student to stand behind a child in the in the circle. State a math problem aloud or display a flash card with a math problem on it, and ask both students to figure out the answer. The first student who calls out the correct answer moves to stand behind the next child in the circle. The object of the game is to see how far one student can "travel" without making any mistakes.

Note: Before beginning, be sure to state the following rules.

• Only two students are eligible to call out an answer each time. Anyone who calls out an answer when it is not his or her turn is out of the game.
• Students have a predetermined amount of time to solve the problem. If one student calls out an incorrect answer during that time, the other student gets an additional 5 seconds to answer correctly. If neither student answers correctly in the allotted time, both sit down and two new students are chosen.

Assessment
Evaluate students on their ability to solve the problems.

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