Using Games to Teach Math

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For many students, math is a dreaded subject. Basic facts must be learned before moving on to basic applications, and each level of applications builds on the level before it. All of the facts and formulas become tedious and time-consuming, leading students to avoid the subject whenever possible. Using games to teach math can help students learn in several ways.

Reasons to Use Games

• Practice – Using games to teach math ensures that students are practicing facts and formulas, even if their practice is limited to the classroom. Students not only recite formulas through games, but they learn how to put the formulas into practice in common applications. Such practice helps students develop the ability to solve problems and build on their knowledge for higher level processes.
• Motivation – Many students find math tedious and boring. Using games to teach math generates excitement, making math a fun subject for students. When the subject is interesting, students are more willing to study. In addition, games that allow for competition in class motivate students to study because they want to do well in the competition. This is especially true in younger students who may not be motivated simply by the prospect of learning.
• Anxiety – Math is a subject that creates anxiety for students of all ages. Because games focus on fun, rather than performance, games are an excellent method of reducing math-related anxiety in students. In addition, games allow students to see that other students are at various levels of competence in math, which helps to ease the anxiety that comes with the fear of being behind other students.
• Understanding – Students may not fully understand certain math concepts, or they may be able to understand concepts without being able to apply them. Using games to teach math can help students develop a better understanding of both concepts and applications. By observing other students and listening during the games, students will develop the understanding they may have missed during tedious lectures and homework.

Sample Games

The following are some games that can be used to teach math:

• Math Bee – A math bee is like a spelling bee, but with problems instead of words. Students are given a math problem that is at their learning level or lower. If they solve the problem correctly, they remain in the bee. If they cannot solve it, then they are out of the bee. This gives students a chance to practice solving basic math problems while competing to be the math bee champion. This also gives teachers the opportunity to observe the students performing mental calculations, helping to determine areas where students may be having difficulties.
• Math BINGO – The only difference between math BINGO and regular BINGO is that students must solve the math problem to find the number they need to mark. Students may use pencil and paper to help solve the problems , or problems can be kept to facts they should be able to solve mentally.
• Facts Race – Once the students are divided into two teams, a facts race can take place in two ways: 1) Students from each team compete to fill in a chart the fastest or 2) Students race to answer problems at the board. For the charts, a grid numbered from 1 to 9 across and down allows students to practice basic operations, like addition or multiplication, by filling in the answers in the squares. For example, 2 X 4 = 8, so students would go over 2 squares and down 8, and then fill in the square with 8. For board races, a student from each team goes to the board. The teacher gives one problem, and the first to solve it receives a point for his/her team.

There are many other games that can be used to teach math, and a creative teacher can easily adapt games for use in the math class. Using games can help make math more interesting for the students and less stressful for the student.