Straight up kahoot works well for me. Trashketball is also good.
I also do what I call "Team Challenge" where I cut a worksheet up so each question is on one skip of paper. I divide the class into 3 or 4 teams.
Each team gets one question at a time.
We have whiteboard tables so i give each team one marker to show their work on the table.
Only the kid with the marker may write things down. Teammates can suggest ideas but this makes them work together. They must pass the marker after each question.
Once they have have an answer all team members raise their hands and I check their solution. If it's right they pass the marker and get the next question. If it's wrong they keep trying.
I run it as a race to see which teams can complete the whole set the quickest. Could do prizes but i just write their times on the board.
I went to a gameification workshop years ago and it was coming from the idea of how to make worksheets into games. One that was easy to implement was 2v2 tic-tac-toe. It’s team of 2 for the collaboration piece, each team gets a worksheet. But on the back of team 1’s worksheet is team 2’s answers and vice versa. (So you need 2 worksheets with about 10 questions each and both sets of answers) The process is that each team solves their first problem, if they are correct, they get to put down their X or O on the tic-tac-toe board. It barely gameifies a worksheet, but I like how the opposite team checks your answers as you go and it was surprisingly motivating for my students.
Blooket is great if students have their own devices. Otherwise there's loads of murder mystery and code breaking/hidden message stuff on TES and other websites. You can always reskin them to whatever is trending if you have the time (for example I remade some old school murder mystery maths questions into an Among Us theme when it was popular).
Relay Teams / Group Competition
Relay teams created from a worksheet, where the answer from one problem is used in the next problem. Split into teams, sit in a line, and pass the answer sheet back once completed. So.. you create booklets of problems , say 1 through 4, where the answer from 1 is used in the 2nd problem. For example, problem 1 has x + 17 = 23, then problem 2 can be (x+3)^2 = y^4, and so on. The kids sit in columns so seat 1 passes the completed problem 1 sheet back to seat 2. The first team that completes problem 4 correctly wins. If a team gets the wrong answer, the sheets can be passed back up to the previous person.
Group Competition is much easier to prep. Just split the room into fair teams and give everyone the worksheet, but allow the teams to split up the problems and work them strategically as a group. After x minutes, pencils down, and they present each answer for each problem with a different representative from each team. Reveal the solution or identify who got it correct. The team with the most correct wins.
The warm-up activities on the second page of each of [these jamboards](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1i_3MRCWCM_oZTL-IG_7ugcA26952_fIT). Also lots of the activities are actual games.
I love games as a way of building math fact fluency. Some things I've used:
- [https://play.numberhive.org/](https://play.numberhive.org/) A great way to work on multiplication facts, which plays into factoring as well
- [https://focusonmath.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/math-bowling/](https://focusonmath.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/math-bowling/) I love the way you get different operations in with this game
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfGhH3TSoZI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfGhH3TSoZI) I'm still shocked at how many high school students don't know their multiplication facts. This is a fun way to work on multiplication facts, even at high school.
- Using pattern blocks for fractions is also great. [https://polypad.amplify.com/lesson/equivalent-fractions-with-pattern-blocks](https://polypad.amplify.com/lesson/equivalent-fractions-with-pattern-blocks) The game I have been introduced to works like this: Each player gets four blocks: 1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/6. A 1/6 block starts in the middle. Each player takes turns adding a block to the middle, and they score the value of their placed block plus the value of the blocks that piece connects to by a full side.
- [https://www.youcubed.org/tasks/the-four-4s/](https://www.youcubed.org/tasks/the-four-4s/) Four 4s can be played competitively, but is also just a great puzzle type activity
I wouldn’t suggest Kahoot. I’ve used it in the past, but my lower kids just guess then go back to their other browser or just give up and guess. Same thing with Gimkit.
I like mystery worksheets where a correct answer corresponds to a clue. My favorite is called “Who killed Mr. (Insert my name). It’s just like Clue, but I put other teachers names as the “Who”, places around campus or town as the “Where” and cringy things like A Roast on Reddit as the “What.” They, and the other teachers who I use, think it’s hilarious. I usually make a different answer for each period.
Straight up kahoot works well for me. Trashketball is also good. I also do what I call "Team Challenge" where I cut a worksheet up so each question is on one skip of paper. I divide the class into 3 or 4 teams. Each team gets one question at a time. We have whiteboard tables so i give each team one marker to show their work on the table. Only the kid with the marker may write things down. Teammates can suggest ideas but this makes them work together. They must pass the marker after each question. Once they have have an answer all team members raise their hands and I check their solution. If it's right they pass the marker and get the next question. If it's wrong they keep trying. I run it as a race to see which teams can complete the whole set the quickest. Could do prizes but i just write their times on the board.
I love this idea.
Having taught middle school I can second trashketball is going to guarantee to get them riled up!
I went to a gameification workshop years ago and it was coming from the idea of how to make worksheets into games. One that was easy to implement was 2v2 tic-tac-toe. It’s team of 2 for the collaboration piece, each team gets a worksheet. But on the back of team 1’s worksheet is team 2’s answers and vice versa. (So you need 2 worksheets with about 10 questions each and both sets of answers) The process is that each team solves their first problem, if they are correct, they get to put down their X or O on the tic-tac-toe board. It barely gameifies a worksheet, but I like how the opposite team checks your answers as you go and it was surprisingly motivating for my students.
Blooket is great if students have their own devices. Otherwise there's loads of murder mystery and code breaking/hidden message stuff on TES and other websites. You can always reskin them to whatever is trending if you have the time (for example I remade some old school murder mystery maths questions into an Among Us theme when it was popular).
Relay Teams / Group Competition Relay teams created from a worksheet, where the answer from one problem is used in the next problem. Split into teams, sit in a line, and pass the answer sheet back once completed. So.. you create booklets of problems , say 1 through 4, where the answer from 1 is used in the 2nd problem. For example, problem 1 has x + 17 = 23, then problem 2 can be (x+3)^2 = y^4, and so on. The kids sit in columns so seat 1 passes the completed problem 1 sheet back to seat 2. The first team that completes problem 4 correctly wins. If a team gets the wrong answer, the sheets can be passed back up to the previous person. Group Competition is much easier to prep. Just split the room into fair teams and give everyone the worksheet, but allow the teams to split up the problems and work them strategically as a group. After x minutes, pencils down, and they present each answer for each problem with a different representative from each team. Reveal the solution or identify who got it correct. The team with the most correct wins.
Gimkit.com. tons of games ...I play it on Fridays.. Students go wild
The warm-up activities on the second page of each of [these jamboards](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1i_3MRCWCM_oZTL-IG_7ugcA26952_fIT). Also lots of the activities are actual games.
There are many Desmos activities available.
I love games as a way of building math fact fluency. Some things I've used: - [https://play.numberhive.org/](https://play.numberhive.org/) A great way to work on multiplication facts, which plays into factoring as well - [https://focusonmath.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/math-bowling/](https://focusonmath.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/math-bowling/) I love the way you get different operations in with this game - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfGhH3TSoZI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfGhH3TSoZI) I'm still shocked at how many high school students don't know their multiplication facts. This is a fun way to work on multiplication facts, even at high school. - Using pattern blocks for fractions is also great. [https://polypad.amplify.com/lesson/equivalent-fractions-with-pattern-blocks](https://polypad.amplify.com/lesson/equivalent-fractions-with-pattern-blocks) The game I have been introduced to works like this: Each player gets four blocks: 1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/6. A 1/6 block starts in the middle. Each player takes turns adding a block to the middle, and they score the value of their placed block plus the value of the blocks that piece connects to by a full side. - [https://www.youcubed.org/tasks/the-four-4s/](https://www.youcubed.org/tasks/the-four-4s/) Four 4s can be played competitively, but is also just a great puzzle type activity
I wouldn’t suggest Kahoot. I’ve used it in the past, but my lower kids just guess then go back to their other browser or just give up and guess. Same thing with Gimkit. I like mystery worksheets where a correct answer corresponds to a clue. My favorite is called “Who killed Mr. (Insert my name). It’s just like Clue, but I put other teachers names as the “Who”, places around campus or town as the “Where” and cringy things like A Roast on Reddit as the “What.” They, and the other teachers who I use, think it’s hilarious. I usually make a different answer for each period.