10 "game" style ways to review math

Table War

We are reviewing attributes of rational functions.  The details require more memory work ... more understanding what part of the rational function discloses what details.  So we did some speed dating for routine work.  And today we played Table War.

I have 23 to 27 students in a class.  I set up "tables" for 3 students ... 9 tables.

All students have a whiteboard, marker ... all students must answer every question.

Students at tables help one another.

I project attribute problems on the screen (powerpoint).

When the table agrees on their answer, one person at the table stands up.  I'm watching to identify the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd tables.

I reveal the answer, everyone checks their own work.  The tables with team members standing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd earn points if their answers are correct ... 10, 7, and 3 points respectively.

After every third problem, students draw chips from paper bags that I prepared in advance ... 2 black chips, 1 red chip in each bag.  The person drawing the red chip has to move to another table.

We completed 12 problems in about 30 minutes or so.

#MTBoSChallenge Week 5 - Fave Review Game

We haven't played any games yet.  Last year our favorite review game was ZAP.  This is reposted ... from my 180 blog:

We played ZAP today for our review game.

I wrote about the game here.

First I created this board and hung it up 2 days ago.  Students were curious about it, and wanted to know how we would use it.  I love to pique their interest.

To create the board, I needed 20 - 30 pockets.  I made mine with tape and index cards.  Then I had some old construction paper already cut into 2 x 4 inch strips that I used for my cards.  I wrote varying points on the cards ... 4 cards had 500 points, 4 cards had 300 points, 3 cards had 100 points ... etc ... down to 20 points on some cards.  Then I wrote silly actions on others ... do the chicken dance and earn 500 points; dance like ballerinas and earn 100 points; give your points to another team; trade your points with another team.  Last I created 4 ZAP cards - teams lose all their points when they pull a ZAP card.

Then I put 20 problems in powerpoint that mirror the expectations on the upcoming test.

Teams had fun with the randomness of the points today.  We laughed as we worked and played.  It was a good review day!

ZAP!! Review Game

 I saw this game called ZAP on a couple of websites ... here  and here and here!

I decided to create my own ZAP board ... in preparation for review day.


At the end of the last semester I asked students for feedback on our class and our activities.  One activity they said they liked was playing games to review for tests.  BUT I was tired of the football and basketball games.  So I started hunting for a new way to play!

I didn't have library pockets and didn't want to go out to buy them.  So I used half size index cards and tape to create pockets.  I found some old construction paper already cut into strips ... about 2 x 4 inches.  I also found stickers that I had purchased over the summer.  So ... it took just a few minutes to create pockets and cards.  Then I wrote varying number of points on the cards along with a few silly actions, and the word, "ZAP."

We play on Friday!  Maybe I'll have a great learning experience to report!