Mad Math Minutes
Mad Math Minutes are an awesome and quick way to improve fact fluency. Below I will outline a bit about how I ran my program and the successes I had. I made mine into a "Math Mountain" where students could track progress as they moved up.
Preparation
Materials: Class set of duotangs or small binders Construction paper (optional) Magnentic 'players' of your choice Binder for your master copies of worksheets and marks pages. Stickers 1. Start out by building your 'mountain' or 'world'. I went with Mathtopia, students progressed through different lands as they moved through their levels. Each land had different 'villians' they faced and had to beat with their math skills. The lands also had math based names such as "Subtraction Sea". I built this out of construction paper and images from the internet, you could make this any way you wanted! 2. Create pawns. We used Class Dojo characters since we were already using this tool in class. You could simply use name magnets. Be creative! 3. Set up your duotangs. Each student needs a duotang with their name on it and 'Math Adventure Tracker" as well as a Number Line tracking page. Both of these can be found at the bottom of this page. The Math Sheets 1. Decide how you want to run your program. For Grade 2 I was doing addition and subtraction 1-20. Each level had facts with a common number. For example level 3 was facts such as "3+4, 3+8, 3+10". I split each level into two worksheets, they needed to complete the first one which was answers to 10 and the second which was answers to 20. I have included examples of this at the bottom of the page as well. Speaking from experience, I would do one addition and one subtraction for each level if your students are prepared. If you have more time than I had I might do two separate 'adventures', one for subtraction and one for addition. Remember, this can be modified for multiplication and division as well! 2. Make your sheets using www.mathfactcafe.com. This website was the most customizable in my opinion. It also includes easy instructions on how to use it. For example, if you want all facts based on the number 3 you set the 'Maximum" to that number. You can also set the minimum range and answer range to your liking, example: 1-10 answer range means no questions will be higher than 10. You can also make the questions appear horizontal or vertical, change the font size, and create specific titles (this is super handy!). 3. I personally created all my sheets for every level and kept a hard copy in my binder for ease of photocopying. I titled them based on their level and order. Example: Level 3 sheets were "Mad Math Minute 3a" and "Mad Math Minute 3b". Easy! |
Running your Math Minutes
This would work best if you do it every day. When routine is established it only takes about 5-7 minutes total.
1. Hand worksheets out, face down on students desk. For day one this is simple but as students progress at different levels you will have a variety of sheets to hand out. TIP: When marking, if a student moves up a level take their next sheet out and write their name on the BACK. Keep all the sheets for your next day ready to go with names penciled on the back. This makes for easy hand out, no need to be checking who needs what. 2. Ensure you have a timer ready! We used a simple online countdown timer. I started my students at 3 minutes but realized they needed 5. Use your judgement! 3. Make sure students know what to do when they're done. Here's my routine. a. If there is still time left on the timer, put your sheet into your duotang. Look at your previous sheet and check for corrections. **Student's should do corrections! b. When timer goes off, all students put hands on head to ensure they don't continue writing. c. Students circle the last question they did if they didn't complete them all. PROGRESS TRACKING 1. Student didn't finish within time If a student did not finish in the timer they are to record the amount they got done on their NUMBER LINE TRACKER. This number line should go as high as the number of questions you have. For me, this was 30. Students then shade however many they completed. This way they still see progress if they don't move up! 2. Student DID finish in time. If a student finished in time they don't do any tracking until YOU mark and tell them. You mark their work and if they complete a level, they get a sticker on their MATH ADVENTURE TRACKER. They also move up on the mountain with their character! Resources
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