HOW TO PLAN

STUDENT-CENTERED MATH
ACTIVITIES
8MAY

Planning student-centered math activities takes work! There

is the actual planning and creating that takes time, but then
there is also the actual classroom time to squeeze the
activities into.

I have five favorite activities that are fun and engaging, but
also help scaffold the learning. I think that is why I love math
so much; it can be broken down into smaller
components. The key is being able to practice the different
steps and skills with student-centered math activities.
STUDENT-CENTERED MATH
ACTIVITIES
As a note, I have utilized these activities in various levels of
classes. At one point, I taught all three levels of 8th grade
math- intervention, on-level, and advanced- within the
same year. While the content of the activities may change,
the activities in and of themselves are still perfect for any
level.

CUT AND PASTES

Students Practice Breaking Down the Process

Why I Love Them: While a little messy, cut and pastes keep
students using their hands and doing math at the same time.
They work well independently, in partners, or while working
with a small group. Some teachers have even mentioned
using cut and pastes for creative homework assignments. I
like providing multiple incorrect answers, as well. This keeps
kids thinking and is a way to incorporate mathematical
practices through error analysis.

When to Use Them: Cut and pastes are great for anything
that requires a step-by-step process from solving equations
to adding and subtracting integers. This is perfect for
advanced kiddos who want to go straight to the answer or
intervention students who need to focus on one step at a
time.

CARD SORTS
Students Practice Differentiating Similarities and Differences
Why I Love Them: Card sorts are an excellent way to quickly
assess a student’s understanding of the concept. They require
higher order thinking skills, as students are required to
analyze the given information and make a categorization.
Although they take a bit of time upfront (cutting and
laminating), they can be used over and over again. I have
used card sorts for the real number system, proportional
relationships, word problems, statistical and nonstatistical
questions, properties of geometric figures, etc.

When to Use Them: I love having various sets of card sorts.

They are fabulous as a classroom activity with pairs, an
activity for early finishers, or an activity to keep skills fresh
and improve fluency. In an advanced class, you could give the
cards without the headers and ask students to sort them in
any way possible. You would be surprised at what
observations they are able to make. In an intervention setting,
the headers will provide structure. At the end you can
question for the similarities and differences, along with key
understandings of the concept.
SOLVE AND COLORS
Students Practice Basic Math Skills

Why I Love Them: Solve and colors are really perfect because
kids get to color. Something about colored pencils in math,
makes the lesson more successful.

When to Use Them: My favorite use for solve and colors is as a

practice of basic math skills, whether that be adding and
subtracting rational numbers or multiplying and dividing
decimals. They are easy to leave for substitutes, to use after
testing, or as fun homework assignments.

MATCHING CARDS
Students Practice Recognizing Multiple Representations

Why I Love Them: Matching cards require the same about of

time upfront as a card sort, so get yourself some parent
volunteers. I have found great success in using matching cards
to show multiple relationships. This can be depicted with
ratio tables and graphs, proportional relationships, fraction,
decimal, percents, and linear relationships.
When to Use Them: Again, these are perfect for sponge
activities, review activities, or quick and easy lessons on
Fridays. I personally loved using these over and over again
with my intervention students. We would use matching cards
to build number fluency with fractions, decimals, and
percent representations, as well as many other necessary
skills.

TASK CARDS
Students Practice Individual Skills within a Small Group

Why I Love Them: Students can be working on the same

concept with different types of problems. They are super
flexible! Lots of teachers use them for scoot or various games,
but my favorite is small groups. You can incorporate them
into stations, use them for formative assessments, etc. Task
cards are easy to prep and can be utilized multiple times
throughout the year.

When to Use Them: When I pull small groups, I love using task
cards, hands down. I used them to have a small group of
students working on various problems that were all around a
similar topic. I could easily scaffold the students within my
small group based on the card, starting with the most basic
problems and then moving on to multi-step word problems.
If you haven’t used these student-centered math activities in
class, I would encourage you to try them out. You can make
them as simple as writing on a notecard, or you can pick up
ready to go activities in my shop. For those of you looking
for an entire year’s worth of activities, guided notes, study
guides, quizzes, and tests all organized in an easy-to-use
format, be sure to check out my 6th, 7th, and 8th grade
curriculum.

 PROJECT BASED LEARNING

How To Plan Project-Based Learning

 Not sure what project-based learning is? Start by reading this post first!

Choose A Topic That Will Inspire Your

Students

The most important part of PBL is choosing a topic that your students will be interested in.
You can choose a general category (animals) or zoom in on a specific topic (penguins). It’s
 up to you! Keep an eye on your class for a few weeks to figure out what they’re interested
in.

 What type of books do they check out?

 What do they talk about in class and at recess?
 What games do they play at recess?
 What items do they decorate their binders with?

Know The Elements

It’s important to be prepared with some questions on the main

elements of PBL. My free planning guide includes these elements
organized into tables to help make planning easy!

 Topic- What topic is your project based around?

 Content- What do you want your students to learn about the
topic? What materials will they use?
 Driving Question- What overall question do you want
students to answer?
 Inquiry & Choice- How will students learn about their topic?
What choices will they make along the way?

Inquiry & choice is so important in project-based learning. In

regular assignments, you’re looking for all students to get one
correct answer. In PBL, there are many ways that students can
complete the project correctly. The variety allows for choice and
free thinking!

Think About The Process

Even though PBL is driven by the students, you will need to have
structure in place. Think about the following:

 How will students critique and revise?

 What 21st century tools will they use?
 Who will be the audience they present their final project to?
Decide How You’ll Handle Classroom
Management

For teachers that are used to a very rigid classroom, project-based

learning can be very scary. Be prepared to give your students
more freedom, but take time to practice procedures. You’re going
to want procedures for accessing supplies, discussion, and actual
work. You’ll also need a procedure for early finishers or students
that get stuck. Check out my blog post on classroom management
for more information!

Plan Carefully

Explicitly plan out how you will incorporate each element of PBL
into your lesson. You can use the Project-Based Learning Planning
Pages below [free]. Next, pace out each day’s lesson. The
closer you follow the PBL structure in your plan, the better the
lesson will go.

You can learn how to explicitly plan out the entire PBL in
the Implement Project Based Learning from Start to Finish
eCourse.
 Click to download for free!

Ready To Get Started?

Read the rest of the posts in this series!

#1 – How to Plan Project-based Learning
#2 – The Driving Question
#3 – Differentiated Instruction for PBL
#4 – Classroom Management during PBL
#5 – Rubrics and Self-Assessment