FDA Suggestion: Jersey Day

Want to alter your lesson a little and engage students in an effort to meet the CCSS Teacher Practices for Mathematics? Well here is an idea being shared, have a jersey day. Ask each student in your class to wear a jersey or a shirt with a number on it. Then instead of using the standard Everyday Math deck of cards, let the shirts be the numbers you use to play various games. One idea is to play Top-It, but a great game to play would be Name That Number.

Have select random studnets to stand up in front of the class (this is like dealing the cards). Ask groups of students to arrange (politely ask students to move accordingly) the human cards in an effort to reach the "Target Number" (Can be a student or a number you post).

Groups can work together to create various number models, assess each others work, and discuss their rationales. Group can also write their various number models down. You can time them and see which groups can create the largest number of accurate number models.

There are many variations to how this strategy can be implemented, but it offers a form of student involvment and thinking beyond the team and player names on jerseys. It's taking numbers in from real world experiences and applying them to math. You can even add an element of writing by having students write number models as well as sentences like the following:

5 + 10 = 15 or David Wright + Eli Manning = Studnet B (Soccer Jersey)

Please let us know if you attempt this in your classroom, share your feedback about how it went. Have fun!