Decimal Operations Practice With Number Puzzles

laine — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 03:41:00 +0000

How much do your students love working with decimals and decimal operations?

Sometimes remembering decimal operations ‘rules’ can be difficult. But, practicing with math puzzles can help students’ logic and reasoning when it comes to decimal operations.

Turning decimal operations practice into a fun, Sudoku-like puzzle is a great way to help upper elementary and middle school math students work with the different decimal operations.

Many of my students love solving Sudoku puzzles using whole numbers. When we replace the whole numbers with decimal problems, we’re able to use a logic puzzle that gives students a new way to practice!

Solving Number Puzzles

Sudoku puzzles are fun and interesting.

In case you’ve never used them, they require problem solving and reasoning to make sure that every row, column and group of squares only has one of each number. Some students develop strategies when approaching a puzzle; some learn to use guess and check quite often:-)

When working with decimals in a Sudoku puzzle, students need to consider their target numbers, as well as how to complete the necessary operation. This makes decimal practice a bit more interesting and engaging than working on one problem after another on a worksheet.

How This Decimal Operations Number Puzzle Works

As with whole number Sudoku, I start decimal Sudoku with a few squares filled in, so students have a starting point.

(If students have never tried Sudoku puzzles before, I recommend starting with a regular Sudoku puzzle, to teach students how they work.)

So far, I’ve only used a 4 X 4 grid, which makes figuring out the target numbers fairly easy.

All of the squares have a decimal problem with a missing addend in them.
Within each 2 x 2 section, there is one completed problem, with the target number of 1, 2, 3, or 4 already filled in.
The object is for students to figure out the target number for each square and then find the missing decimal number in each individual square.
Every row and column must each contain 1, 2, 3 and 4 as the answers to the decimal problems (these are the target numbers).
Every 2 x 2 section must also contain 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Decimal Operations Puzzle Example

For example, on the answer key shown here:

You can see the target numbers of 1-4 in the rows and sections (they’re in the columns as well)
You can also see the completed decimal problems.

Everything in black (target numbers and decimal numbers) is provided for students.
Everything in green is what the students must find (target numbers and missing decimal addends).

Current and Future Decimal Puzzles

I’ve only used addition problems (which actually requires them to subtract:-), but other operations may work well also.

Larger puzzles (6 x 6 and maybe 9 x 9) would also offer a greater challenge.
Puzzles with all operations would be a greater challenge as well. For instance, in a 4 X 4 puzzle, the first column could be two multiplication problems and two addition problems.

Are you looking for more ideas about teaching decimal operations? Check out this post.

The post Decimal Operations Practice With Number Puzzles appeared first on Cognitive Cardio Math.

Include More Daily Math Review in Middle School

laine — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 10:00:00 +0000

Use the Date for Daily Math Review and Math Thinking in Middle and Upper Elementary Classes
Updated 5/2020

In 2015, I started adding a little extra daily math review into my classes. How did I do this, I use the date!

I know it sounds crazy, but this daily math review using the date is so easy to do. And. . . you can review a variety of math skills with your students.

Keep reading to find out how you can quickly and easily add daily math review in your class too!

How to Use the Date for Daily Math Review, Method 1:

Use all the digits in the date to create an equation.

The ‘rules’ for creating the equations are fairly simple:

The digits stay in the same order they are in the date; so for Feb 2, 2016, the digits are 2 2 2016.

Any operation signs and parentheses can be added in between any digits.
The equal sign can also be placed between any digits.
Digits can be used as exponents, as shown in the example in the image.
You can add square roots signs if you can find a way to use them.

How to Use the Date for Daily Math Review, Method 2:

Write the date so that each number in the date is an expression to evaluate.

For example, for the date February 8, 2016:

The 2 for February can be written as the cube root of 8

The 8th can be 2 cubed
The ’16’ for 2016 can be 64 divided by 4

When to Use the Date for Daily Math Review

It can be challenging to add ‘another thing’ to math class, but using the dates for math review can take as much or as little time as you want.

Some days you might just put the date on the board (or use a calendar card for your calendar) for students to observe and mentally note that the expression is equal to the numbers in the date (this is even great in a non-math class!).
Other days you might use the date as a warm-up and ask students to show you their solutions.
You could even add the dates into your math centers.

However you incorporate this type of math review, it’s a great way to provide daily math review. You can address equivalent expressions and MANY other concepts as a type of spiral review throughout the entire year.

It’s so much fun watching students write these in the corner of their notebooks during class even when that was not the assignment. And. . . during last period students ask to write the equation or expression for the next day. This lets me know that they enjoy both solving and creating the equations and expressions.

Five Benefits of Using the Date for Math Review

What I love about including math dates as a daily review is that they:

Are quick
Can be solved at any time (beginning of class, finished early time, closing of class, or in homeroom)
Help kids to expand their number sense and use some “out of the box” thinking
Help improve students’ understanding of equivalent expressions
Can be differentiated to challenge students:

Students can create their own expressions
Students can evaluate the entire expression (using the bars as division signs – a student did this on his own one day!)
If you happen to make a “mistake,” students can find it and correct it. 🙂

6. EXTRA Math Benefits of Using the Date

Some other fantastic benefits of using the Math Dates for daily math review are that you can:
Introduce Math Concepts

Introduce notations or concepts students haven’t seen before, like the cube root or exponent rules.
As you discuss the date in class, a quick overview of a particular concept can help set students up for greater success when it comes time to teach the concept in the course of the curriculum (especially if they’ve seen it in several different dates!).

Reinforce Math Concepts or Facts You Want to Target

Reinforce some basic concepts, like the meaning of exponents. I don’t know about your students, but mine often forget that 2 cubed means 2 x 2 x 2, not 2 x 3. Using the exponents in the date keeps bringing that concept back for review.
In 2017, I used the ‘year part’ of the date to reinforce that 51 is divisible by 3 – this was such a huge help to students who thought 51 was prime.

If your students are struggling to retain a certain concept, give the math dates a try – work that concept into the date.

Where Can You Find Math Dates Created for You?

I post math dates in my Facebook group AND send them to my email community every week.

Feel free to join my group or subscribe to my emails to have the dates done for you.

I put together Math Dates resources for you to use throughout the year – these have been published by individual months and as a year-long resource on TPT. These are great for middle schoolers and have a BUNCH of number puzzles included as well.

I’ve also added a year of dates for upper elementary math.

How do you include more daily math review and math thinking in the middle school classroom?

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