As a follow up from my last entry about teaching mathematics, I would like to share an activity called 'Operation' which some students were participating in today during our whole school mathematics morning as part of Education Week. This activity helps develop maths mental skills which is suggested makes up about 80% of maths use in our daily lives.
Two players play (or more) and are dealt four cards each. If the object of the game is make the largest number (this can be changed to the smallest), each player must use an operation only once to make the highest number they can with their given cards. So using the cards in the picture as an example, 8 multiplied by 6, add four and subtract 1 is 51. Even better would be 8 multiplied by 6, add four divided by 1 is 52. The other player needs to beat this score to win the round.
As a classroom activity or as a task at home, this is a great example of open ended learning (provides more than one possible solution to a problem) and can be easily modified to suit the different ability levels of students. This simple activity can be modified for students who are not ready to apply several operations at once by allowing them to use only addition and subtraction, limit the cards in their deck (maybe remove the higher numbers) or allow them to work with a partner or adult for support. To meet the needs of students who may find this activity easy, modifications such as using only multiplication, using a decimal point, renaming each card (such as using an 8 as 80 or 800) or using five cards instead of four can be applied.
As a learning task, this is ideal for all student ability levels. It is a good example of learning to apply mental maths skills in an engaging, interacting and challenging manner. Something a 'closed' activity does not. For example, a closed task would be 8 * 6 + 4 - 1 = ?
Have a go with your child, good fun!
Two players play (or more) and are dealt four cards each. If the object of the game is make the largest number (this can be changed to the smallest), each player must use an operation only once to make the highest number they can with their given cards. So using the cards in the picture as an example, 8 multiplied by 6, add four and subtract 1 is 51. Even better would be 8 multiplied by 6, add four divided by 1 is 52. The other player needs to beat this score to win the round.
As a classroom activity or as a task at home, this is a great example of open ended learning (provides more than one possible solution to a problem) and can be easily modified to suit the different ability levels of students. This simple activity can be modified for students who are not ready to apply several operations at once by allowing them to use only addition and subtraction, limit the cards in their deck (maybe remove the higher numbers) or allow them to work with a partner or adult for support. To meet the needs of students who may find this activity easy, modifications such as using only multiplication, using a decimal point, renaming each card (such as using an 8 as 80 or 800) or using five cards instead of four can be applied.
As a learning task, this is ideal for all student ability levels. It is a good example of learning to apply mental maths skills in an engaging, interacting and challenging manner. Something a 'closed' activity does not. For example, a closed task would be 8 * 6 + 4 - 1 = ?
Have a go with your child, good fun!