Times Table Success!

Third grade is the year you learn your Times Tables.  It's a big deal.  Some are excited about it and feel grown-up.  Others just hate math.  Parents drill it or dread it.  But this year, it was LOVED by all third graders at my school.  How did we do it?

My Canadian co-worker in true Canadian fashion taught us "Times Table Hockey", a six man on six man game that inspired our little sponges to learn those multiplication facts.  And let me tell you, kids loved it, parents raved about it, and teachers got a little competitive about it.  A two week tournament with brackets and a championship game set the stakes high for our 9 year olds.  When it came down to my class and Class 3K for 1st place, I gotta say that my palms were sweaty and my heart was racing.  The posters were flying and crowds were cheering.  Teachers from other classes wandered out of their rooms to see the commotion and join the chanting.  And multiplication facts were being shouted out, memorized, and learned.

Life-lessons came out of it too...  Lessons on good sportsmanship were easily integrated as well as the lesson that no one seems to teach anymore: NOT EVERYONE WINS.  There were losers and winners.  And we all still had fun.

Why did this work?  How did we get every 3rd grader to want to learn those facts?  Because it was a competition.  They wanted to win.  And they wanted to play the game.  Simply put, it was fun.

Here's how we play the game:
Six players on each team with three rows.  Last row is the goalie, middle row 2 defense men, and front row 3 offense men facing the same set-up from the other team.  Center (of the 3 offense) faces center of the other team to start the game.  Referee calls out a multiplication fact.  (We used playing cards in two stacks, pulling the top ones off the pile to give a random fact.)  The first kid to say the correct answer wins and moves across the other teams offense, answering facts from the referee.  It's one man on one man, giving the answer to the referee's fact through each teams offense and defense.  The first team to beat the opposing team's goalie wins that goal and earns a point.  Anytime the round gets down to only the goalies standing and facing off, we all shout "Goalie, goalie guacamole!"  (Just for fun.)  The team with the most points after several rounds wins.

Video Clip of 2013 Times Table Hockey Tournament

I highly recommend "Times Table Hockey" to any Grade 3 or 4 teacher who wants their students to memorize those facts.  Now when I join the game with the kids, they can beat me half the time.  It works, and it's highly motivating.

More than one parent said to me during conferences this year, "I don't know what you did, but my kid loved learning the times tables."

A Kid Story

While cleaning up at the end of Writer's Workshop last week, one of my shy little girls, H, came to me and said, "Ms. P, I love everything about school."  The big grin on her face told me I was doing something right with my Writer's Workshop this year.  H is loving writing.  Although I have only gotten her to read her writing aloud once during Share Time, she enthusiastically sits and writes and writes in her Think Pad.  She shows me ideas she's added.  She's into it.  I love moments like these.  Another plug for Janiel Wagstaff.  

Classroom Management

Classroom management... the most important part of teaching in my opinion.  This is how I do it so I can actually teach something.

The Quiet Signal

Some people use a clapping signal, others the lights.  Whatever you use, the best way to make it work is to EXPECT it always and to wait for 100% attention before going on.  If I need to give instructions, I raise my hand, wait for EVERY single child to stop what they're doing, look at me, and raise their hands too.  And I expect ALL the kids to do it in 5 seconds or less.  Then I give instructions for the next thing.  What happens when they don't do it within the time limit?  We spend a lot of time practicing.  It doesn't take much to get them to WANT to do it within 5 seconds.  And after the first week of school, they're really quite good at it.  In my experience, the only way it will work is expecting kids to do it, exactly, every time.  Then they will.  It works!

Numbered Heads

This is a common collaborative teaching tool that I learned from Spencer Keagan my first year of teaching.  Put kids in groups (4 is the best if possible).  Give each child a number in the group.  1 2 3 4. You can then use it for everything!...  "Number 4's please collect the notebooks and turn them in for your group."  "Start with number 1 and go around the circle sharing your answer."  "Number 1's get the glue.  Number 2's get the paper.  Number 3's and 4's wait patiently."  You get the idea.  Click on the link above to get more ideas.

Two easy tools that make ALL the difference!