Math can be a challenging subject for many high school students. Some find it boring or struggle to grasp the concepts. As a math teacher, it’s important to find ways to make math review engaging and enjoyable for your students. Using creative teaching methods can help reinforce skills in an interactive way and get students excited about math. Here are some tips for making math review fun at the high school level.
Make it a Game
Turning review into a game is an excellent way to add excitement. You can have students play in teams or pairs and incorporate activities like math relays, scavenger hunts, or Jeopardy. For math Jeopardy, create a board with different point values and categories. Have students select a category and point value, then need to solve the problem correctly to earn those points. You can include puzzles, riddles or other question formats besides just math problems to mix things up. Offering prizes like small treats or homework passes can provide further incentive.
Get Active
Incorporating movement into math review keeps students engaged and makes it more fun. You can have students complete practice problems on small whiteboards that they hold up when done. To check answers, have them move around the room comparing boards with classmates. Other active games include having students run to different corners of the room based on their answer choice or throwing a ball back and forth while quizzing each other. You can also find math review games online that incorporate physical movement. Getting students up and active will make the review feel more lively and enjoyable.
Teamwork Trivia
A trivia game presents material in an interactive, competitive format. Break the class up into teams and quiz them on math concepts, formulas, terms and more. Award points for correct answers and consider throwing in bonus questions worth extra points. Add silly rewards like allowing the winning team to wear hats in class or giving last place a small homework assignment. Having students work in teams fosters collaboration and peer teaching as they pool their math knowledge together. This makes the review process more engaging.
Math Art
Art projects are a creative way to review math that will appeal to visual learners. Have students create pictures or designs using geometric shapes, symmetry and patterns. Another idea is to assign each student a number and have them color in the fraction, decimal or percent that represents their number. You can also provide graph paper and have students create images using only lines and angles. Adding a fun creative element can make the material more memorable.
Math Outside
Get students outside for an interactive math lesson. For example, give each student an item like a frisbee, sidewalk chalk or a ball. Then have them practice measuring distances, angles or shapes on the grass, blacktop or sidewalks. You can also set up outdoorstations for activities like estimating measurements, creating shapes using natural objects or solving equations posted on signs. The change of scenery will be stimulating and get the class energized about math.
Real-World Problems
Connecting math to real life keeps students interested and shows practical applications. Tailor word problems and examples specifically to their lives. Calculate things like hours spent on social media, earnings from an after school job or savings for a desired purchase. Have them bring in menus to calculate costs of favorite meals or estimate the gas mileage for family cars. The more they can personally relate to the math concepts, the more compelling the review will be.
Technology Tools
Today’s students are digital natives, so incorporating math apps and online games can provide stimulating review. Helpful tech tools include Quizlet for quiz making and flashcards, Kahoot for game-based quizzes, Khan Academy for instructional math videos, Desmos graphing calculator and Geogebra interactive geometry. Let students show you other math sites or apps they enjoy using. Providing choices will give them buy-in.
Prizes and Treats
Who doesn’t love a prize or treat? Offering small rewards is an easy way to motivate students during math review. Things like stickers, pencils, erasers and homework passes are inexpensive but provide incentive. You can also reward teams or individuals who win review games with things like a homework-free night, bonus points on a test, or no assigned seating for a day. Edible treats like candy, chips or donuts are always popular too. The rewards do not need to be big to get students excited and engaged.
Making Review Relatable
One key strategy to enhance math review is making the content relatable for students. Applying concepts to real-world situations that are relevant to their lives will increase engagement. Here are some ways to relate math review topics to high schoolers’ interests and experiences.
Pop Culture References
Use examples involving popular musicians, athletes, celebs and YouTubers that students follow. You can have them calculate things like:
- The mean number of Instagram followers for 5 top pop stars
- How much money a famous TikTok influencer might make from sponsored posts
- The percent increase in album sales for a buzzworthy new artist compared to their debut
Tapping into their interest in pop culture makes the problems appealing and accessible.
Sports Statistics
Many high schoolers enjoy sports, so using sports stats is an effective way to provide relatable math examples. You can have students:
- Calculate a player’s batting average over a season
- Graph the number of touchdowns scored by two football teams over several games
- Determine the probability of a basketball player making consecutive free throw shots
Sports stats allow you to naturally incorporate lots of graphs, percentages and probabilities. Students who follow sports will find these problems intriguing.
Finance Examples
Money matters are relevant to teens, especially as they approach financial decisions about college, cars, jobs and more after graduation. Have students calculate finances like:
- The total cost of college applications and tests
- Car insurance payments based on different deductible amounts
- The price per pound of their favorite clothing brand during a sale
These types of calculations provide practice with real numerical data they’ll use in life.
Social Media Math
Since most students are avid social media users, creating math problems based on these apps makes the content familiar. Possible examples include:
- Finding the mean, median and mode for the number of posts from a set of Instagram accounts
- Graphing the number of new TikTok followers gained each day for a week
- Calculating what percentage of a YouTube influencer’s subscribers viewed their latest video
Leveraging their social media experiences creates an instant connection to the math concepts.
Shopping and Sales
Teenagers love shopping, so word problems can describe comparing prices and percentages off. Examples might include:
- Determining the better deal between two pairs of shoes with different original prices and discounts
- Figuring out the total cost of several clothing items during a 50% off sale
- Adding up prices from a grocery list within a set budget
These practical scenarios help reinforce their math skills for everyday saving and spending situations.
Making Math Review Interactive
Beyond just Relating math concepts to student experiences, it is also important to present the material in an interactive, hands-on way. Here are some tips for incorporating interactive learning into math review:
Math Manipulatives
Having tactile objects to model math concepts can be extremely helpful for review. Basic manipulatives like counting blocks, Cuisenaire rods, tangrams and polydrons allow students to physically represent things like fractions, shapes, numeric operations and more. You can also find topic-specific manipulatives like algebra tiles, decimal dice and integer chips. Interacting with these tools builds understanding and makes practice more engaging.
Mini Whiteboards
Individual mini whiteboards and dry erase markers are a great interactive tool for all kinds of math practice. Students can work out problems on their boards and erase easily, allowing for lots of repetition. You can quickly check their work by having them hold up boards. Quizzing each other in pairs or teams with whiteboards adds friendly competition. The versatility and ease of use make these a great hands-on option.
Math Stations
Set up stations around the classroom focused on different math skills students can rotate through. For example, have a fraction station with cookie recipes to adjust serving sizes, a decimals station using money, and a probabilities station with dice games. Stations allow students to move around while practicing in a group or independent format. Adjust activities to align with your learning objectives.
Online Math Games
The multitude of free digital math games available provide interactive, engaging review options. Fun platform examples include Prodigy Game, Zearn, Motion Math Games, Dragon Box, and Mathbreakers. Look for games that align to your math curriculum and students’ skill levels. Having technology-enhanced games available will add variety and excitement.
Math Project Ideas
Incorporate hands-on projects that allow creativity. Assign things like building 3D shapes out of toothpicks and clay, designing floor plans to scale, making calculator art, or creating graphs based on student surveys. The array of possible projects lets students demonstrate math learning actively and visually.
Math Scavenger Hunts
Provide a list of math problems or concepts students need to find examples of around school and photograph. It could be shapes in architecture, frac-tions in floor tiles, patterns in nature, or graphs on classroom walls. Let them work in small groups and turn it into a fun photo scavenger hunt. Having them search for examples reinforces the relevance of math in everyday environments.
Making Review Relevant Through Real-World Examples
Here are some additional real-world math examples and activities to make review relevant for high schoolers:
Sample Math Review Scenarios
| Topic | Real-World Example |
|---|---|
| Ratios | Mixing the perfect fruit smoothie using proper ingredient ratios |
| Rates | Calculating miles per hour on a road trip |
| Exponents | Understanding credit card interest rates compounded annually |
| Linear Equations | Determining the number of tickets needed to raise a set amount of money |
| Quadratic Equations | Calculating the height a ball bounces given number of bounces |
| Statistics | Finding average high school GPAs needed for college admission |
Real-World Math Review Activities
- Have students plan a vacation on a budget including travel, hotel, food and entertainment.
- Get takeout menus and have students calculate the total cost for feeding a family.
- Provide floor plans of dream homes for students to determine things like total square footage.
- Give students weekly schedules to practice calculating total time spent on activities.
- Have students investigate credit card or student loan rates and calculate total interest.
- Get car advertisements so students can compare payments, loans terms, and fuel efficiency.
Making math review engaging, interactive, and connected to real life will help high schoolers master key skills while appreciating the relevance of mathematics all around them. Don’t be afraid to think creatively when planning review games, activities, projects and word problems. The more fun and applicable you make it, the more students will gain from the experience. Keep an open mind, be flexible willing to adjust to their needs and interests. Making math review an enjoyable, rewarding process will build confidence, boost retention, and encourage ongoing math achievement.