Today was absolutely magical. I felt it before the first student entered my classroom. I had stayed a few minutes late yesterday afternoon to do a quick transformation of my room. It is one of my favorite go-to transformations through the years and always packs a powerful punch with engagement. I switch it up every year, which is a necessity since I work in a multi-grade classroom with three-four different grade levels. I have the same kids for at least three years, with a few new ones coming in. I love to keep the familiarity...they LOOK forward to it and are always asking when we will do it. I love the newness, because it keeps it from being the same old, same old from year to year for returning students.
Set the Stage to Engage
Let me describe the classroom scene for you. Think Spy Academy....I purchased a roll of black plastic to cover my windows and glass door, blocking out virtually all light. I plugged in my three strip black lights. I have used these for many years, so the $60 investment has been more than worth it. I added a neon spy hat and tap light (from Dollar Tree) to every desk. I use these from year-to-year and I believe I am on year 4-5 of using them. I also laid out a pair of glow glasses for each student. I got these in the Walmart party section. They came in packs of I believe four. I keep these to use from year-to- year and just change out the old glow sticks. Students always ask to keep the hats, lights, and glasses, and I always gently explain that I need these for other classes to enjoy. I do let them take the glow sticks at the end of the day. The whole set-up takes maybe 30-45 minutes, so it really is not a big investment to set the stage to engage my learners.
When I opened the door in full spy getup, students freak out. I downloaded an app and have them scan their finger for their day at our Multiplication Spy Academy. They get nervous to see if their fingerprints are accepted, but they have huge smiles on their faces as they enter the darkened classroom, glowing with pops of neon color. Students quickly put on their hats and glasses, tap on their lights and excitedly chat with friends while waiting to get started.
For math, we did multiplication mania to launch our Multiplication Spy Academy. Spy Academy is a system I use to teach my students the multiplication tables, one set at a time. It is all around a spy theme, and starting with a spy themed glow day is just the thing to get them all excited about the learning they will be doing over the next weeks. If done well, students can learn the times tables in about 12 weeks...more about that in a minute.
Glow Day Meets Multiplication Spy Academy
Today, I started with one of my multiplication games called slam. I handed each student a game board featuring a certain multiplication product from one of the sets from 1-12. Each desk had a different set. Along side each gameboard was a set of cards with multiplication facts for that set. I set a timer for one minute. Students were to lay the fact cards on top of the matching product as fast as they could. They were given one minute. Any student that completed their board slapped their desk, showing they were done. Students who were new to the multiplication tables were given a multiplication table chart to help them along. We rotated around the room, moving from desk to desk. By the end of the game, each student had been exposed to each of the facts.
Afterwards, we rotated through 4 different game stations using some of my multiplication games. One station featured Spy Academy word problems along with a Jenga game. When students answered a question correctly, they pulled a certain color of Jenga block out and placed it up on top of the pile. Whoever knocked the tower down lost the game. They had so much fun with this one, always loving the loud crash.
The next game was another Spy Academy favorite called Find Five. Students are given multiplication cards, their are also a few special cards that act as a wild...lay down a chip anywhere on the board, or remove one opponents chip. Students play on a large board covered with fingerprints and multiplication products. On their turn they examine their cards, choose one, find the answer on the board, and cover their spot. Whoever gets five in a row first wins.
For the next game, we played the Spy Academy game called Search and Rescue I-Spy. It is an I-spy style game where students lay down a game board covered in colorful multiplication products and spy-themed clipart. Students take turns turning over a card showing a multiplication fact. All students look for the product on the board. The first to find it, shouts it out and covers it with their chip. Whoever is first to cover it wins the game. It it such a fast-paced, all-hands-on-deck game. I just love this new one!
Our last game was not spy themed, but it was spider themed and since we are currently reading Charlotte's Web, I thought it would be a great add on. It is called Web Wars. It is a war style card game. Each student has a stack of cards. Each player flips the top one over at the same time. They each solve the Multiplication problem on their card and whoever has the highest amount collects a spider. We used spider rings and spider web candy dishes from Dollar Tree for this game. Students placed any spiders they earned in their web bowl. The one who collected five spiders first won the game.
These games were such a fun way to kick off our Multiplication Spy Academy. Now tomorrow we will receive our Spy Academy challenges. We typically take about 12 weeks, plus a few for mixed review, to master our multiplication facts. I will give each student a fingerprint card. These are similar to what they use when the book criminals or when you get fingerprinted for a job. As students master a certain fact, they add that fingerprint to the card. They will also receive a special detective collector's card. Each card features a detective from Spy Academy and has a letter from a secret code. The code will only be solved when students earn all of the collector's cards by learning their multiplication facts from 0-12. Their are a lot of activities that I can use to help students with learning their facts and I created this system to help them be more successful while having fun with a spy-theme. I considered different learning styles in the making of this. We have kinesthetic ways to practice. There are interpersonal practice challenges. I have verbal drills as well. There are speed drills. There are cards to practice alone. There are games. There is so much that I try to incorporate that it is hard for a student not to succeed. Practicing everyday is also imperative to success. I ask parents to practice at home and try to send home tools to help them do this.
It's a big task for third grade, but it makes such a difference in the successes they have in math moving forward. Those who do not have a solid grasp of the times tables, will continue to struggle. It is just a fact...it slows students down. I know that there are different views currently about whether you should or should not have students memorize the facts, but I see the difference when they do, it is still important and worth while. I can still build understanding about the concept of multiplication while holding my students to the high standard of mastery of facts.
You might also be interested in this fun coupon book for your students this fall. Spread a little love and let them know you appreciate their hard work this first quarter. It is filled with fun coupons for classroom privileges that are super cheap, but most are free.
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