Low Prep Math Activities to Start the Year Right!
A MiddleWeb Blog
This year the week before students arrived was very busy (as usual), so I needed some good first day(s) school activities that involved little to no prep.
I require a lot of my first days activities. I want them to teach some math, be fun, set the tone for the rest of the year, and make my students feel comfortable. That’s a lot to ask!
My first week is almost behind me and I will share what I did this year. And I actually feel pretty good about it!
This or That?
My students really enjoyed playing “This or That?”. This activity was on one of the slides provided by my school (the first day of school they give us a slide show to present each period of the day.) On the slide there would be two options, such as Netflix and Hulu. Students would move from one side of the room to the other to indicate which one they would choose.
My students got a kick out of it. One slide was ketchup or ranch, and I want to tell you the discussion was fierce. If you would like to do this in your classroom, a quick google search of “this or that” questions for students will yield numerous results.
Homework in High School: How Much is Too Much?
Homework in High School is a lesson provided by PBS Learning Media that requires students to think about and write about their thoughts on homework. The lesson is great for middle schoolers as well those older kids.
It includes a short video that goes along with the lesson and a handout that students can fill in as they watch the video. The lesson begins with a quick write with students responding to prompts about how much homework they typically have, if it’s beneficial, and how they feel about the types of homework they are given.
I was surprised by how much students had to say about this topic and how nuanced their answers were. I had allotted thirty minutes for the video and the discussion, and in all of my classes we did not have time to watch the video because the discussion went on for so long!
Everything that is needed for the lesson is included on the site, which makes this activity very low prep. I used this lesson alongside discussing my classroom procedures and norms, and when I got to the section about homework I introduced this activity. I ended up modifying some of my homework procedures as a result of our discussion.
Blind Stork Test
I like first days of school activities that do double duty: I want them to be fun but also to teach some math content. Creating box plots is a skill that I need my students to master so I decided to do the Blind Stork Test Activity – it’s fun and we can also use the data to create box plots. I have to give credit to Sarah Carter for this great idea – she has so many good activities on her site, M+A+T+H = Love.
By the way, we do boxplots in AP Statistics, but they are actually a sixth grade standard in the Common Core.*
*CCSS.Math.Content.6.SP.B.4 (6th grade standard)
Display numerical data in plots on a number line, including dot plots, histograms, and box plots
The activity begins with me showing students a short video explaining the blind stork test.
Basically students have to stand on one leg with their eyes closed as long as they can while their teammate times them. The data is collected and we use it to create a box plot.
As an extension, for their first night’s homework I asked my students to ask two people (family members or friends) how much time they had spent on their phone that day or the previous day. Apparently phones can track that now. We used the data that students collected to make a box plot.
Polaroids
This is something I love to do! I walk around and take a picture of every student with my instant camera. It’s become a tradition in my room. I snap their picture on their first day of school, and when they graduate I return it to them in a card. (Most of my students this year are in 10th grade, so by the time they get their photo back they will have changed a lot!) Students get a kick out of watching their picture develop.
I have had to adjust over the years. I used to post the pictures on my bulletin board but a few students would request that I not display their picture, so I just started storing them in my desk. A lot of students will ask me to display theirs on my desk, and of course I’m glad to. Also I’m very careful to ask each student’s permission before I take the photo and they can discreetly opt out.
These are some of the activities I used to start the new school year. Maybe you can use some of them. if you have some tried and tested activities of your own please share them in the comments section below. Good luck and have a great year!
