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Anyone got any good Snappy Maths activities? The ones that I have are a bit stale I feel.
Thanks
Hot seat activity
Two children sit at the front of the class in two hot seats facing each other. Teacher stands at the back of the class and asks an ability appropriate sum. The winner (one who answers the quickest) stays in the hot seat the other pupil goes back to their chair and is replaced with another pupil. The fun part is they don't just answer the sum they need to say bang, cheese or sausage whatever the choosen word is before they answer question. eg 2+2 = bang 4
Be careful if you're doing this - expecially for an observation. What are the children learning here? The two at the front are recalling facts at speed (hopefully!) but what are the rest doing? Probably not much. This may be a snappy activity but like Fizz Buzz, Round the world and Shoot the Sherrif it is not a good maths activity.
Simple games with dice or cards that all children are playing at the same time are good and cheap! Adults in class can use the time to listen to strategies children are using and can support pairs if they are stuck, or extend if they need challenge.
Pairs (or threes) taking turns to deal from a pack of cards can work on highest/lowest, addition, subtraction, multiplication etc - same game different skill, so you spend time on the maths not having to relearn rules.
Differentiation can be by limiting the number of cards e.g. some pairs have 1-5, some 1-10, some 1-13, cards can be worth their face value (1-13) can be worth 10x their face value or a tenth of their face value depending on age and ability.
Children can have access to resources if needed - perhaps a number square, multiplication square or number line.
I've used this type of game from Reception up to Year 9 to practice mental skills and haven't found anyone yet that didn't love it - and they were practising and using maths - and I was able to do some useful assessment!
Google games with dominoes as well - there's alsorts you can do with them from mental calculation to fractions and probability of course if you have older pupils :)
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