6 October Math Activities for Upper Elementary Students

Math Activities to Embrace the Fall Spirit 

Fall is in the air. My favorite time of year! The cooler temperatures, the excitement of Halloween, the sound of leaves crunching beneath our feet, and the thrill of football make this season special.

As educators, we understand the importance of maintaining academic momentum while embracing the season's spirit! With some creativity, you can reset the classroom mood and keep your students engaged. 

Here are 6 ideas to bring a touch of autumn magic to your lessons:

1. Football Frenzy: Math on the Field

Plan a family outing to a football game and turn it into a family adventure! Have students calculate the cost of tickets, estimate food expenses, factor in travel costs (including miles and gas), and don't forget the souvenirs and parking fees. This activity not only makes math relevant but also ties in real-life applications. Follow up with a football stats activity to keep the momentum going.

2. Football Stats Galore: A Touchdown for Math

Dive into football statistics to explore decimals, percentages, and averages. Students can calculate player stats, compare team performances, and predict game outcomes. This touchdown-worthy activity makes math exciting for your sports-loving students while reinforcing key concepts.

3. Costume Party with a Twist: Shopping Math

Add a fun twist to Halloween by planning a costume party with sale ads. Students select three costumes and their accessories, calculate the total cost, including tax, and find the best deals. It's a spooktacular way to blend math with Halloween fun, teaching students how to manage money and find the best deals.

4. Pumpkin Bucket Math: A Festive Twist on Decimal Review

Embrace the festive spirit with a math game that's perfect for October! 

Fill a pumpkin bucket, treat bowl, or even a brown bag with decimal question cards and a few sneaky BOO-HOO! cards. Students take turns drawing a card, solving the problem, and keeping it if solved correctly unless a BOO-HOO! card is pulled, meaning they must give back ALL their cards. This seasonal game adds a playful twist to math practice while students work to collect the most cards without getting BOO-HOO'd! Want this print and go resource to use with your students? Click the image.

5. Monster Truck Relay: Teamwork and Math in Action

Channel the extra energy of October into productive learning opportunities by fostering collaboration and teamwork. 

The Monster Truck Relay is a lively math game where students practice decimal place value and operations with decimals. In this relay-style activity, students tackle eight rounds of math problems, working together in teams or independently. As students solve each lap of problems correctly, excitement builds as they race to the finish line. Want to see more? Click the image.

6. Math Mysteries: Solving Problems with a Touch of Intrigue

Bring Ocotber's atmosphere of intrigue into your classroom with a math mystery activity! Project a Halloween night scene and play some "spooky" music to set the tone. 

A Halloween mini math mystery for long division is a perfect way to challenge your students to solve 12 long division problems and uncover who snatched the candy. As students work through each problem, they eliminate potential suspects, narrowing down the list of culprits behind the candy heist. Who doesn't like being able to crack the case, combining math skills with a fun challenge? Want to try this with your students? Click the image above.

Harness the Magic of October

October is a magical month full of opportunities to make learning fun and engaging. With some creativity, you can harness the energy of the season and keep your students excited about learning all month long!

Mastering Long Division: 5 Ideas to Support Learners

Are some of your students struggling to grasp the standard algorithm for long division? Fret not! These 5 ideas may be just what you've been looking for to boost the confidence and fluency of your students when tackling long division. Picture this - a classroom buzzing with excitement as students conquer long division. Dream big!

Before diving into the standard algorithm for division, students need a solid foundation in understanding the concept of division. Rather than jumping into the rote application using the algorithm, it might be beneficial to take a step back. Use manipulatives to represent the division process, use simpler numbers, and embed problems within relevant contexts. 

5 Ways to Support Learners with Mastering Long Division:

1. Scaffolding the Process: Do some of your students find multiplication hindering their grasp of long division? Introduce working template worksheets that target the division process. These differentiated templates offer varying levels of multiplication support, allowing students to concentrate on mastering the steps of long division without letting multiplication get in the way. 

Here is another option for differentiated working templates for Teaching Long Division with 1 Digit Divisors.

2. Small Groups: Break down the long division process into manageable steps. In groups of four, assign each student a specific step in the process of long division (divide, multiply, subtract, bring down) and rotate through 4 problems. This collaborative approach gives students practice for each step, promoting a deeper understanding of the long division process.

3. Remove the Numbers: Start with word problems minus the numbers. Remove the numerical values and fill them in later to address the different readiness levels of your students. This strategy encourages students to discuss the problem-solving process without fixating on getting the correct answer. Look at the resources you already have and simply white out the numbers and get your students talking about the process first.

4. Color Code: Support students' understanding of the algorithm by color coding each step in a different color: divide, multiply, subtract, bring down. This is an effective strategy to support students if they get stuck because the color code system can provide a visual guide to help facilitate the process.

5. Math Mystery: Add an element of intrigue when practicing long division with fun, interactive activities like math mysteries. Students solve division problems and use the answers to eliminate suspects. Correctly solve the problems and declare the mystery solved. Get your FREE long division math mystery today!

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Grade you teach:4th5th6th7thMath Coach/Interventionist

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Write On! - Elaboration Ideas

Looking for ideas to help your students take their writing to the next level with elaboration? Here are 3 quick strategies to support students in expanding their ideas. 

EXPAND A SENTENCE

Students choose a sentence in their writing that they want to elaborate. Then students roll a dice and add that number of words to their sentences. This may seem like a simple strategy, but it can work like a charm with modeling and guidance. Students can add adjectives, adverbs, proper nouns, prepositional phrases, color words, or feeling words to expand their sentences.

To model give all students the same sentence. Roll a dice. Have students add that many words to the sentence. Then have students share. Discuss the different ways students added to their sentences and how it would affect the reader.

ELABORATION ROLL-A-CUBE

For this strategy, students roll the elaboration cube to see how they are going to elaborate in their writing. Students can add a feeling word or color word. Students also can explain why, how, where, and when to help paint a picture in the reader's mind.

 

Randomness can be a great motivator and fosters creativity when students have to determine how to weave new ideas into their writing. Click HERE for your copy of the elaboration roll-a-cube.

CHAINING

This strategy has students connect ideas like LINKS in a CHAIN. Students look for undeveloped "links" in their writing. Then students think about how they can

• explode an idea
• clarify a point
• provide evidence to strengthen their positions. 

Students then create additional sentences that get "linked" like a chain to develop these ideas.

 

What strategies do you use to help students incorporate elaboration in writing?

Looking to elevate your students' personal narrative writing skills? This resource includes seasonal prompts, a graphic organizer, and a choice board designed for students to practice and improve key elements of narrative writing. Click here to see more actionable tips to support students in elevating their narrative writing.