Multiplication Contest with Potato Chip Rewards
I found my class having trouble with problems like 287 x 6 = ? Most were understanding the concept, but were just making errors in their arithmetic. Some forgot to add in their cary numbers. Some forgot to multiply, and added part of the problem instead. Others, because of not knowing their times tbles well enough, made errors in multiplication. It was a bit boring going over their problems on the board, for those who students who hadn’t missed the same problems.
So I had a sudden inspiration to have a multiplication contest. I appointed the two team captains whose turn it was, and let them choose their team members. We sat down on two sides of the class. I passed out individual slates (in plastic) with a small piece of chalk. I chose ability-matched pairs of students (one from each team) to come up to the board and work the problem. Each student in the class worked the same problem on his slate.
If the team representative at the board got it right, and was first, his entire teacm would get a reward of a potato chip, each time. (Potato chips are provided by students on a rotating basis.) They all got a lot more practice this way, and in a fun way.
We do spelling bees the same way, except that if the student earns a point, it is both marked on the board, and the student gets a potato chip. Details will follow in another post.
Eileen
Tags: Fun with Math, Math Blogs, Math Fun, Multiplication, Multiplication Problems
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April 26, 2008 at 9:57 am
yummy..
we had these kinda win-n-get-yummy-food in like grade1 only.. we always got teh same Galaxy Chocolate or a Hershey’s bar..
April 26, 2008 at 5:54 pm
You do have great ideas, Eileen. Potato chips!
I’m ashamed to say that I once dangled money before a particularly boisterous class. “Translate these sentences. A quarter goes to the student with only three mistakes; a half dollar to the one with two mistakes. One mistake wins a full buck, no mistake wins two.”
I held up the dollar and then clipped it to the blackboard the way Columbus nailed the doubloon to the mast of the Santa Maria for the man who would first sight land.
You should have seen how those kids got quiet and started translating with a seriousness I’d never seen in them. How sad!
I expected parents to complain but more than one actually complimented me on the idea and offered to reimburse me. I never felt right about doing that–why didn’t I think of food?. But it made the worst kids learn. Of course I could control the number of mistakes by calibrating the difficulty of the sentences for translation.
May 17, 2008 at 7:09 am
We have spelling bees every week with potato chip rewards. I got the idea years ago, during my second year of teaching Third Grade. Having trained a couple of dogs years before, I thought about how we always give an animal a reward when he does something correctly. So I thought, why not kids?
I expected parents to complain, too, but I’ve only ever had a couple of parents comment to their own children they are afraid their children might get fat! Of course, each kid only gets about two potato chips per week during the class session, and up to three chips extra if they are on the winning team.
I’m with you about the money. It would be a shame to have to pay kids to learn, yet I’m sure it worked much better than potato chips! I’m glad the parents were supportive of you.
Eileen
May 17, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Innovative idea! I am reminded of my school days when one or two teachers offered rewards for the best class work . . . toffees!
July 9, 2008 at 1:34 am
You better rethink your reward, as a teacher you are influencing students nutrition levels. Even if it is only a couple potato chips a week, if you hand them out during class, you are providing the influence to eating empty calorie junk foods.