Idea Galaxy

Adventures in Junior High and Mathematics

seasonal fun

12 Days of Christmas Math Activities for Middle School

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The month of December is a crazy time of year in the classroom. The kids are excited, and the teachers are excited too. Fortunately, there’s some easy ways to add seasonal spice to your math classroom. Christmas math activities keep students engaged during this exciting time of year.

Some simple adjustments, like adding seasonal clip art to your work or bringing in some Christmas school supplies as prizes, can go a long way. You have to walk a fine line of not getting the students distracted, but at the same time bringing that seasonal cheer into the class. Students definitely appreciate the effort and will be a little more engaged at a time of year that is otherwise full of distractions. [Read more…] about 12 Days of Christmas Math Activities for Middle School

13 Halloween Math Activities

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Why I add Halloween fun to my middle school math classroom

My birthday is in late October, so it should be no surprise that I’ve always been a big fan of Halloween. Of course, my version of Halloween is fun and whimsical. You know, it’s like an explosion of orange and purple and pumpkins and candy corn. I’m not exactly into the horror version of Halloween. So, as a math teacher I like to bring in cute and fun Halloween by incorporating things like pumpkins, bats, not too gross zombies, spiders, cute witches, etc.

Through my many moons as a middle school teacher, teaching 6th, 7th and 8th grade, I find that students really appreciate this nod to their childhood. It can be super simple to incorporate Halloween through clipart, little trinkets, and themes to activities, but it can definitely pay off with students who are having fun while doing math. [Read more…] about 13 Halloween Math Activities

Christmas Trivia Game for the Secondary Classroom

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One of my favorite school memories came from a high school chemistry teacher right before Christmas. Every year, he hosted a science themed Christmas trivia game. And it was a big deal. Classes competed against each other. Everyone looked forward to it. He really made it a special event. The questions were challenging and yet somehow (loosely) related to the science we were studying.

With my own classroom, I wanted to create a similar experience. A few years back I found the addictive trivia game Wits and Wagers. It was so much fun to play with family and friends, and I realized that it would make a great holiday game in my classroom. [Read more…] about Christmas Trivia Game for the Secondary Classroom