10 Awesome End of Year Math Activities for Grades 1-8

May 6, 2019

Looking for Effective and Easy End of Year Math Activities?

The final weeks of the school year have arrived and keeping your students engaged in learning math is no easy task.

You can mix up your instruction and keep your students interested in learning math by incorporating a few awesome end of year math activities and projects into your upcoming lesson plans.

The following end of year math activity ideas are perfect for implementing during the final weeks of the school year, an extremely hectic time when sticking to your usual routine is nearly impossible.

And each end of year math activity is easy to modify to best meet the needs of your students! The activities can be modified for students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

So, which end of year math activity will you share with your students this spring?

(Tags: end of year math projects, end of year math activities, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade, grade 1, grade 2, grade 3, grade 4, grade 5, grade 6, grade 7, grade 8)

1.) Math Book Report

Description: Standard math curriculums hardly ever make time for students to actually read about math. The end of the school year is the perfect time to give your students an opportunity to choose a book about math and create and share a book report.

One option is to have your students research a famous mathematician. I also like having students choose a math-related fiction book, like any of the ones included on this list of 13 STEM Fiction Books Your Kids Will Love.

There are tons of excellent math-fiction books available for students of all grade levels.

2.) Tessellation Project

by GeometryCoach.com

Description: This project blends elements of the history of math, geometry, and art/design into an engaging learning experience where students use mathematical thinking to manipulate shapes to create “Escher tiles” and use them to create geometric works of art!

Tessellation Monsters via www.artwithmrsnguyen.com

3.) Barbie Bungee

Description: The Barbie Bungee data collection activity may be the most underrated math activity ever. Ideal for pre-algebra students, this activity gives students a fun and engaging opportunity to make predictions, collect real-world data, and then analyze the results within the context of their initial hypothesis. This activity is even endorsed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), who share free lesson resources for any teacher interested in trying the Barbie Bungee in their classroom.

Image via http://fawnnguyen.com — Image via *http://fawnnguyen.com*

4.) Escape Room!

Description: Classroom ‘escape room’ lessons are growing in popularity. Why? Because classroom escape rooms boost student excitement and engagement while helping your kids apply and improve their mathematical problem-solving skills.

If you are new to the idea of classroom escape rooms (sometimes called breakout challenges), check out this blog post So You Want to Build a Classroom Escape Room… by We Are Teachers.

Are you ready to turn your classroom into an escape room for a day?

5.) The Parachute Project

by Amy at www.allabout3rdgrade.com

Description: Students use their math skills to design and build a parachute that will stay in the air the longest. This STEM activity is a great opportunity for math and science teachers to collaborate—and it’s a great activity to do outdoors!

Image via www.allabout3rdgrade.com — Image *via www.allabout3rdgrade.com*

Are YOU looking for some super fun daily math puzzles for your students in grades 3-8? Our best-selling 101 Daily Math Challenges workbook is now available as a PDF download!

Get Yours Now

6.) Plan and Budget Your Dream Vacation

by Jennifer at www.loveteachingkids.com

Description: Students are given a budget and have to work groups to plan all aspects of their determined “dream vacation.” This end of year math activity allows students to learn more about budgeting, personal finance, and real-world math applications. Aside from vacation planning, this activity can be modified to budgeting things like personal finances, events, starting a business, etc.

Image via www.loveteachingkids.com — Image via *www.loveteachingkids.com*

7.) Build Fraction Kits

by Anthony at www.youtube.com/mashupmath

Description: Many students struggle with fractions and never really grasp the important concepts. Whether you want to help fortify your students’ understanding of fractions before the school year ends or you want to expose them to fractions a little early, this simple hands-on activity is highly effective and is definitely worth giving a shot!

Click here to get your Free Fraction Kit Lesson Guide!

Image via www.mashupmath.com — Image via *www.mashupmath.com*

8.) Area and Perimeter Architecture

By Glimmersnaps Homeschool

Description: Students explore and apply the concepts of area and perimeter by building a city using LEGO bricks! This hands-on activity is another great example of how math teachers can use LEGO to teach challenging concepts.

If you don’t have access to Lego bricks, check out this free STEM: Area and Perimeter City activity guide by teachbesideme.com.

“I always look forward to getting my Mashup Math newsletter email every week. I love the free activities!”

-Christina R., 5th Grade Math Teacher, Dallas, TX

Do YOU want free math resources, lesson activities, and puzzles and games for grades 1-8 in your inbox every week? Join our mailing list and start getting tons of free stuff (including a free PDF workbook)!

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9.) Year End Reflection Activity

by Brain Waves Instruction

Description: In this activity, students take time to reflect on what they learned in math this past school year, what challenges they overcome, and how they’ve grown as problem solvers. This activity is perfect for teachers who have students complete a math portfolio over the course of the school year.

Image via www.fouroclockfaculty.com — Image via *www.fouroclockfaculty.com*

10.) Math Puzzles and Brain Teasers

Description: The end of the school year is a great time to let your students apply their mathematical problem-solving skills to fun puzzles, brain teasers, and challenge questions.

You can access dozens of free math puzzles for all grade levels by visiting our Free Math Puzzles page.

Get your free math puzzles for all grade levels at www.mashupmath.com

Shop now

Have any more ideas for awesome end-of-year math project ideas? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

(Never miss a Mashup Math blog--click here to get our weekly newsletter!)

By Anthony Persico

Anthony is the content crafter and head educator for YouTube's MashUp Math and an advisor to Amazon Education's 'With Math I Can' Campaign. You can often find me happily developing animated math lessons to share on my YouTube channel . Or spending way too much time at the gym or playing on my phone.

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Teaching Math Through Major League Baseball

April 1, 2019

The Mathematics of Major League Baseball

Spring is finally here, which signals the closing weeks of the school year for students and teachers as well as the beginning of a new season of Major League Baseball.

Baseball, arguably more than any other sport, is driven by statistics. Even the casual fan understands the concepts of batting average, fielding percentage, and earned run average. The analysis of such data is used to evaluate a player’s performance and has a tremendous impact on rankings, contracts, and awards.

Math teachers can take advantage of their students’ enthusiasm for the new baseball season by teaching math concepts like averages, probability, and sample sizes in the context of baseball and the popular statistics that apply to both pitchers and hitters.

In fact, some MLB teams have put this idea into practice by establishing Math and Science in Baseball summer camp programs for local students.

Fortunately, you don't need access to sponsored programs to share the benefits of teaching math in the context of baseball. The following is a step-by-step guide through an activity, which can be done in the classroom or at home, that gives students the opportunity to calculate and analyze the most popular performance statistics of their favorite baseball players.

The following section will walk you through the Baseball Stats Analysis activity. You can download the free, corresponding PDF guide by CLICKING HERE.

Activity: The Mathematics of Baseball

For this activity, you will need to visit ESPN.com, where you will be able to access the statistical profile of the professional players (past or present) whom you choose to analyze. You will have to choose one hitter and one pitcher and you can access their profiles by using the search feature on ESPN's website.

To access a player's statistical profile, type his or her name into the search box on ESPN.com.

From a player’s profile page, click on the STATS tab to access his career performance data.

For this example, we will be using Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals as our hitter and Noah Syndergaard of the New York Mets as our pitcher.

*Note that all statistics referenced in the post are current as of 4/21/2016. Any changes in data are a result of games played after the posting date.

Part One: Calculating Batting Statistics

Once you have your player’s performance data handy, you will be able to calculate the following performance statistics:

Batting Average (AVG): The likeliness that a player will get a hit in any given at-bat.
Slugging Percentage (SLG): Measures a hitter’s power by weighing hits based on the total number of bases. For example, a triple would be worth three times as much as a single.

Note that each of these statistics are reported to three decimal place. A player with an AVG of .300 is considered to have a batting average of three hundred.

Now you are ready to perform your calculations with the aid of the following formulas:

We'll begin with calculating Bryce Harper’s career batting average. To find this offensive stat, you will be focusing on his career statistics, which are compiled in the TOTAL row at the bottom of the statistics table on his player profile.

The TOTAL row at the bottom of the player profile shows compiled career statistics.

To find Bryce Harper’s career batting average, you will need to divide his 544 career hits by his 1879 career at-bats

And since batting average is reported to the third decimal place, you can confirm that he has a career AVG of .290.
This statistic tells us that Harper will collect, on average, 290 hits for every 1,000 at-bats, or 29 hits for every 100 at-bats, or 14.5 hits for every 50 at-bats, etc.

Isn't this fun? Let’s keep going. To find Harper’s slugging percentage (SLG), you will have to first calculate his total bases (TB). To find TB, you will need to know the total number of singles, doubles, triples, and home runs he has hit. From his profile, you can see that he has 102 doubles, 15 triples, and 104 home runs, for a sum of 221 extra-base hits.

To find the number of singles, simply subtract the number of extra-base hits (221) from his 544 total hits, to get 323.

Now you are ready to calculate the numerator of the formula. Notice that singles (1B) are only counted once, doubles (2B) are counted twice, triples (3B) are counted thrice, and home runs (HR) are counted four times!

323(1) + 102(2) + 15(3) + 104(4) = 988

Finally, divide the 988 total bases by 1879 career at-bats, for a slugging percentage of .526 !

By comparison, where does Bryce Harper's slugging percentage rank him amongst players like Dexter Fowler of the Chicago Cubs, Josh Donaldson of the Toronto Blue Jays, and David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox?

Part Two: Calculating Pitching Statistics

Now you will reference your pitcher's profile page. Pitchers play a unique position and have their own performance statistics, two of which you will learn to calculate:

Earned Run Average (ERA): The mean number of earned runs scored against a pitcher per nine innings pitched. An ERA of 3.00 would mean that, on average, a pitcher allows three runs per nine innings pitched.
Walks Plus Hits Per Innings Pitched (WHIP): Reflects how difficult it is for a batter to reach base against a pitcher. The lower a pitcher's WHIP, the more difficult it is to reach base against him.

*Note that both of these statistics are reported to the second decimal place.

Now we are ready to perform our calculations with the help of the following formulas:

You will also need to reference your pitcher’s statistic profile. I have chosen to analyze the Noah Syndergaard of the New York Mets.

To find Syndergaard’s career ERA, you will need to divide his total career earned runs (ER) by innings pitched (IP) and then multiply that quotient by 9:

So you can conclude that he has a career ERA of 2.96.

By comparison, where does Noah Syndergaard's 2.96 ERA rank him amongst pitchers like Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners, Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Dellin Betances of the New York Yankees?

Finally, we can calculate Syndergaard’s WHIP by first adding his total walks (BB) and hits allowed (H) and then dividing the sum by his total innings pitched (IP):

You can conclude that Syndergaard has a WHIP of approximately 1.04, which means that, on average, he allows about one batter to reach base per inning.

Conclusion

Learning math in the context of sports statistics is an awesome way to engage students and to expose them real-world applications.

Be sure to download the free lesson guide that accompanies this activity and let me know which players you chose in the comments below!

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7 Ideas for Embracing Technology in Your Math Classroom

March 8, 2019

Embracing More Technology in Math Class

Using technology in the math classroom will give your students a powerful tool for engaging in meaningful math learning experiences.

But embracing educational technology trends can be intimidating and many teachers are fearful to venture beyond familiar resources like PowerPoint presentations and YouTube videos.

If your idea of effectively using technology in the math classroom involves allowing students to use graphing calculators or showing the occasional video clip on the SMARTBoard, then you are missing out on an amazing collection of tools that will enhance your instruction, better engage your students, and bring your classroom into the 21st-century.

So, if you’re ready to overcome your fears of embracing more technology in your math classroom, here are a few simple ways to make your lessons more tech-friendly:

1.) BYOD

Adopt a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy in your classroom and allow students to use their smartphones, laptops, and tablets as a learning tool/resource. Of course, there is a right way and wrong way to implement BYOD in your classroom. Andrew Marcinek’s blog Why BYOD Makes Sense: Thinking Beyond a Standardized 1:1 via Edutopia is a great road map.

2.) Online Classroom

Start using digital classroom software such as Google Classroom, Brain Pop, or Class Dojo. These programs allow teachers to create an online hub for students to track their progress, stay on top of assignments and homework, and review lessons when they’re not in school.

3.) Incorporate 360-Degree Video

Using educational 360-degree video clips from free video platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, GoPro, Discovery, NatGeo, and Veer is a great strategy for enhancing your lessons and for adding context to what your students are learning. This list of 7 Mind Blowing (and 100% free) VR Videos for Engaging Your Students is a good place to start.

4.) Collect Instant Feedback

Take your formative assessment to the next level by using tech tools like Kahoot! and Survey Monkey to collect instant feedback by assessing your students’ thinking in real time! This data will allow you to gain an instant idea of what your students are thinking and make adjustments mid-lesson.

Example of a post on a class Twitter account.

5.) Create a Class Twitter Account

Give your students an opportunity to showcase what they are learning (parents love this) by creating a class Twitter account. Alice Keeler has an awesome blog post Why A Class Twitter Account, which shares why and how a classroom Twitter account can significantly boost student engagement.

Kealer also shares a blog post Class Twitter Account: How Your Students Can Tweet that is very helpful.

6.) Better Utilize Email

You use email every day, but are you taking advantage of its versatility for making your teacher life much easier? By allowing your students to submit assignments via email (including smart phone photos of hand-written assignments), you will be better organized and will save a significant amount of time and energy.

7.) Make Your Own Video Lessons

If you have a smart phone, then you have an excellent video camera that you can use to create your own video lessons to share online with your students. Video lessons are a great resource for posting online and sharing with students who are absent from class and are even better for teachers who want to flip their instruction.

Could YOU use some free. helpful, and engaging math resources? Access over 100 FREE K-12 Math Video Lessons and Animations on YouTube? Subscribe to our channel (100% free with your Gmail account) and access the full library. We add new video lessons every week!

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Did I miss your go-to strategy for using technology in math class? Share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section below!

(Never miss a Mashup Math blog--click here to get our weekly newsletter!)

By Anthony Persico

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21 Cool Math Games and Activities for Kids in Elementary School

February 11, 2019

Math teachers are always looking for cool math games and activities to share with students at the elementary and middle school levels. Using cool math games and activities in your lesson plans is a great strategy for boosting student engagement and excitement for learning math inside and outside of the classroom.

The following list of cool math games and activities for kids includes math video games, math board games, math puzzles and brain teasers, and other fun math game and activity ideas.

These cool maths games and activities are perfect for lesson plans, at home learning, summer session, and more. Which one will be your favorite?

Cool Math Games and Activities for Kids: Video Games

1.) Prodigy

With over 900 crucial math skills for Grades 1 - 8, Prodigy is the perfect game for mastering mathematics both at home and at school (visit).

2.) Math Playground

Math Playground is a popular learning site filled with math games, logic puzzles and a variety of
problem solving activities. A favorite of parents and teachers, Math Playground provides
a safe place for children to learn and explore math concepts at their own pace (visit).

BrainPop Jr. shares a huge collection of fun, game-based learning math lessons.

3.) BrainPop Jr

Gently encourages young learners to ask questions and form their own ideas about core math learning topics (visit).

4.) DreamBox Learning-Math

DreamBox Learning Math is an adaptive, online K-8 math program designed to complement classroom instruction and deliver results (visit).

5.) Monkey Math (iOS app)

Join your child’s favorite monkey in math games and activities in a playfully designed beach-themed world (visit)

Cool Math Games and Activities for Kids: Board Games

6.) Sum Swap

Kids develop math fluency and early math skills basic as they play through the game board (learn more).

Kids love to play the Sequence Numbers game! — Kids love to play the *Sequence Numbers* game!

7.) Sequence Numbers

Match the addition or subtraction equation on the card to the correct answer on the board, and place your chip there (learn more).

8.) Dino Math Tracks Place Value Game

Learn place value, counting, addition, and subtraction with a prehistoric twist! (learn more)

9.) Pay Day!

This classic board game is much easier than Monopoly and teaches kids how to make and manage money (learn more)

10.) Pizza Fraction Fun Game

Segmented pizzas provide a multi-sensory way to introduce and explore fractions (learn more)

Cool Math Games and Activities for Kids: Math Puzzles

11.) Daily Sudoku for Kids

Sudoku puzzles are a great activity for kids. They exercise the brain, help develop logical reasoning, and provide a sense of achievement (visit).

12.) Riddles from Math Warehouse

Your kids will have a blast with fun math riddles and brain teasers! (visit)

Get free math puzzles at www.mashupmath.com

13.) Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division Puzzles from Mashup Math

Sharing these fun, free, and printable daily math puzzles with your students is guaranteed to boost student engagement and get your kids exciting about practicing and learning math every day! (visit)

14.) Which One Doesn’t Belong?

Make your math warm-ups more visual and thought-provoking with Which One Doesn’t Belong? activities. They’re a great strategy for instantly sparking creative and critical student thinking (learn more and access free sample graphics).

15.) Two Truths and One Lie! (2T1L)

2T1L is a fun way to spark deep mathematical thinking and open discussion at the start (or end—2T1L activities make great exit tickets) of any lesson (learn more and access sample activities)

Cool Math Games and Activities for Kids: Fun Activities

16.) The Barbie Bungee Jump!

The Barbie Bungee Jump Experiment is a super fun, hands-on, group STEM lesson idea (learn more).

17.) The Human Number Line

Fraction Kits are simple and highly effective.

Every student receives a card with a value on the front and they have to stand side-by-side to create a human number line! Make this activity extra challenging by only allow certain students to speak (or none at all). (video example)

18.) Fraction Kit

Creating fraction kits is a great way to get your kids exploring equivalent fractions and acquiring a deep, conceptual understanding of the topic (learn more)

19.) Math Facts Hopscotch

Challenge kids to a game of hopscotch, multiplication hopscotch that is. Get some fresh air while skip counting and hopping! (learn more)

20.) The Famous Four 4’s Activity

Can you find every number between 1 and 20 using only four 4’s and any operation? (Here’s an example √4 + √4 + 4⁄4 = 5). (learn more)

21.) Candy Math!

Using candy as a hands-on math learning tool is a great way to make good use of all the piles of candy at Halloween or Easter and to boost student engagement (get 30+ Amazing Candy Math Activities for Kids).

Would you like FREE math resources and activity ideas in your inbox every week? Click here to sign up for my free math education email newsletter (and get a free math eBook too!)

Tags: 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade, grade 1, grade 2, grade 3, grade 4, grade 5, grade 6, grade 7, grade 8, cool math games for kids, cool math games for elementary school, cool maths games for kids, cool maths games for elementary kids

What fun math Activities are you sharing with your kids this week? Share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section below!

(Never miss a Mashup Math blog--click here to get our weekly newsletter!)

By Anthony Persico

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10 Free Christmas Math Activities for Your Kids

December 6, 2018

Are you hoping to find some super fun and engaging Christmas Math Activities and Christmas Math Worksheets for your elementary school kids this year?

Well Christmas has come early, because you can now access 10 Free Christmas Maths Activities and Christmas Math Worksheets for Elementary School Kids that are not only highly engaging, but easy to print and share as well.

These Christmas Maths Activities come in the form of cute math puzzles that require students to use their math skills to find the value of various Christmas Holiday icons and symbols.

The activities are appropriate for grades 1-5 (level 1-5) and make for great warm-up, cool-down, and/or homework assignments.

The following printable holiday math worksheets allow you to inject a little bit of merry mathematics into each daily lesson from now until Christmas break!

Parents can also share these fun Christmas Math Activities with your kids to keep them engaged and thinking mathematically while on break from school.

Download Instructions: You can download any of the challenges by right-clicking the image and saving it to your computer or by dragging-and-dropping each image to your desktop.

1.) Christmas Math Activities #1

Wreath = 3

Snow Globe = 2

Gifts = 2

? = 5

2.) Christmas Maths Activities #2

Candy Cane = 1

Hot Cocoa = 4

Present = 2

? = 3

3.) Christmas Math Activities #3

Snowman = 3

Tree = 7

Cabin = 4

? = 7

4.) Christmas Maths Activities #4

Snowman = 5

Present = 6

Ornament = 3

? = 2

5.) Christmas Math Activities #5

Reindeer = 2

Snow Globe = 3

Stockings = 4

? = 1

6.) Christmas Maths Activities #6

Ornament = 2

Chimney = 7

Snow Globe = 4

? = 8

Are you looking for more daily math challenges and puzzles to share with your kids?

My best-selling workbook 101 Math Challenges for Engaging Your Students is now available as a PDF download. You can get yours today by clicking here.