my mathercise routine

Well.
It only took two years.
But after much resistance on my part...
I admitted my mathercise had flopped.
My students simply weren't engaged.
Middle school students.
They're different, huh?
They crave variety, fun, and structure.
And I was only providing structure.
Out with the old and in with the new.
My classroom adopted a new routine.
With only 5 months under our belts...
We are head over heels in love!
Well...maybe me a bit more than them...
BUT as close as 12-year-olds can come to loving math. :)

I read everything around me.
The Daily CAFE...
Math Work Stations...
And every google search along the way!
My conclusion?
Elementary teachers are genius.
And I should adopt their practices quickly.
So...my MATHercise routine evolved.
Each day (M-Th) my students complete a folder task.
Game to build fluency.
Stopwatch Skills to build accuracy.
Mind Workout to build comprehension.
Journal Entry to expand vocabulary.
The content within each folder task stems from what we learned in class the previous week.
The students work silent solo for 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile I pull students for small group tasks.
No more than six students working with me.
Maybe this sounds normal to you.
But to this former high school teacher...
The format is uncommon at best.

Clear as mud?!?
Let's look at a sample week...
Next week our MATHercise will be filled with complex area.

Journal Entry...
Students will have two writing prompts to complete.
One is a compare/contrast on calculating complex area.
The other is a goal setting prompt to start our new semester.

Mind Workout...
Students will have a set of plastic pentominoes.
Plus a record sheet of puzzles for their solutions.
This particular set is a free download that I formatted to my style.

Stopwatch Skills...
Students will have a stopwatch.
Plus a record sheet of complex area problems to solve.
This particular set is another free download.
Formatted to my style. ;)

Game...

Students will play the Complex Area Monster Cages game.

Supplies include dice, Cootie Catcher, roll cards, and a record sheeet.

The objective is to calculate the area of complex shape.

The shape is the floor plan of a monster cage.

Fun!

And my favorite part...

The floor plan dimensions are determined randomly.

With the aid of the Cootie Catcher and dice!
(available in my TpT store)

Hope that helps!
I have several weeks outlined.
But I really should get off this blog...
And get busy creating.

Happy Friday to YOU..Make it Count!