Dots and Boxes - so much fun!

We are working on a unit on polynomials.  Today's target - dividing by long division and synthetic division.

I knew we would spend about half of our class time in direct instruction, I do ... you do, dividing polynomials.  We discussed the Factor Theorem and the Remainder Theorem.  Our challenge question ...

But it is the second half of class when students were excited, engaged, and enthused!  It's a dot and boxes game ... with a division problem in each square.  As students capture a square, they divide, and collect the remainder as points.  And that's where the best fun begins ... because the remainders might be quite large, and they may be very negative!  So students who enjoy the strategy of capturing the boxes were not necessarily the winners with points.

Here is a small sample of the gameboard ... purchased from Teachers Pay Teachers ... such a fun idea!

Students strategized, captured boxes, divided, moaned over negative remainders for 40 minutes!  Impressive!