Math Activities

M&M Math
Materials: M&Ms, graphing paper, rulers, and crayons
Objective: Students will create a graph after classifying their M&Ms into groups.
Lesson: Students will open their bags of M&Ms. They will group their M&Ms by color on a paper plate. Students will then record the number of M&Ms that are found in each pile. (The teacher will introduce the word, data.) Afterwards, students will take their graph paper and begin to draw two lines on their sheets. Students will draw a vertical and horizontal line. After the lines are created with their rulers, students will then label their graphs. On the vertical line, they will record numbers in ascending order. On the horizontal line, students will write down the color of their M&Ms. Students will then create a bar graph. When students complete graphing their data, they may color their graphs. Afterwards, the teacher can introduce or review the words; range, mean, mode and medium. When the lesson is complete, students may enjoy their M&Ms for a job well done.
Laura Marasco
Hobe Sound, FL

 Positive and Negative Numbers
Teaching operations with positive and negative numbers is a difficult activity in math. I use a card game to help my students grasp the concept. I draw two cards at random and hold one up on each side of my face. Red cards are negative and black cards are positive. Tens and face cards are worth ten, aces are one, jokers are zero and all others are at face value. I call out addition, subtraction, multiplication or division and remind the students to go from left to right as they read. They must write the equation and answer while I count quietly to five. The students have very lively discussions over their responses because they must justify their answers. Often the problems lend themselves to good explanation.
Susan Parramore 
Tallahassee, Florida

Incredible Equations
Using the calendar date, ask the students to decide if it's an odd or even number, how to spell the number word and what the 'picture' of that number would look like. (Example: 21 would be 2 strips of ten and 1 square of one.) Also, you can explore the Roman numeral for this number. After this is recorded, students are asked to think of number sentences that equal that number. Example: 22-1=21 To extend this, we challenge the class to use more than one operation in their incredible equation. Example: {10 + 10 + 10}-5=25. This is a great way to begin the day!
Roxana Jacobs
Worthington, KY

Making Change
Materials:
four ziplock bags, dimes, nickels, pennies, quarters
Directions:
Separate the coins into their own baggies. Each day, have a different child make change to equal the new date. Encourage different coin combinations from day to day.
Sharon Johnson
Indianapolis, In

Equations
I play this game with my students during December. I use the numbers in the year (1,9,9,8) to create equations that equal the day's date. Ex: If today is the 10th , you could write the equation: (9+9-8)x1.
I challenge the students (5th & 6th graders) to come up with as many ways to create the day's date. (You must use each number in the year.) I encourage the students to get their parents involved. The only stipulation is that they have to be able to understand and explain it to the class. This really sparks some higher level math. The kids really seem to love the challenge!
Didi Romero
Moore, SC

Memorizing Multiplication Facts
I write out the multiplication facts (0x0 to 12x12) on the chalkboards; that's 169 problems in all! Then I tell my students to copy them all down and that for homework they'll be tested on those facts shortly. You can imagine the complaints! I remind them that math is filled with patterns and ask them if they can discover any patterns in the multiplication problems. Pretty quickly, someone spots that any number times zero equals zero. I erase 25 problems from the board and we're off and running! They quickly teach themselves the rules for multiplying by ones, twos, fives, tens, and most of the elevens. Someone notices that 3x4 is the same as 4x3 and that there are others like that, so the remaining duplicates are eliminated. What we have left are a paltry 29 multiplication problems that they have to write down and learn (far less than the 169 we started with). We practice a few each week, knowing that distributed practice is how students learn their facts, and within a couple of months, all of the second graders know their multiplication facts through the twelves!
 Jay Edwards
Hemet, California

Algebra Online

Mrs. Glosser's Math Goodies is a free educational web site featuring interactive math lessons. The lessons use a problem-solving approach and actively engage students in the learning process. They also have 5 Math Chat Boards, Math Puzzles, a Math Image Library, Educational Links, Homework Suggestions, and more!

Fun Math Site- A+ Math- fun flashcards!
Math Stories- a fun site for all ages
Math Lessons That Are Fun! Fun! Fun!

Practice Multiplication Tables and More! from Brett Taylor

Mr. Martini's Classroom  provides interactive math practice.  Topics include numbers, counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, exponents, and more.  There is a multiplication table that can be set to any size from 3 to 20, a very good long division practice tool, flash cards that flip like the real ones, and online quick quizzes.