Below you will find Math activities that can be used to promote student collaboration between both students of the same grade level and/or different grade levels within elementary school.
- Sorting Activities: Students work together to match the vocabulary term with its corresponding figure (e.g. the word circle with a picture of a circle).
- Go Fish: Students play together to identify and learn different numbers.
- Tic Tac Toe: This is an interactive way to practice or review different math concepts. It fosters-social emotional learning in the classroom through cooperation and team work. In this game students "become" X's or O's. They work together to form three in a row. The game board could look like a whiteboard, paper outline, or even chairs! In order to place themselves on the game board they will have to correctly answer a math question.
- Connect 4: This could work for addition, multiplication, etc. Students pick two number cards, work together to solve the equation, and if answered correctly they would place a counter on the grid. They would keep doing this until a group gets 4 in a row.
- Scavenger Hunt: Student work together to look around the classroom, school, or playground, etc. to respond to various mathematical task cards. An addition to this could be adding a secret letter to every task card so that students must also reveal a hidden message.
- Who Wants to be a Math Millionaire?: The teacher acts as a game show host and may ask for a math contestant or divide the students into groups.The teacher then asks the individual contestant or the group to solve a math problem. They can work together to find the answer or ask the other students for assistance if they don't know the answer which in turn encourages collaboration and team work.
- Jigsaw: Each student studies a part of a topic and then presents their information to group teammates. For example, each student in a group learns a different strategy for multiplication then they get together as a group to teach their strategy and solve equations together.
- Numbered Heads: The teacher numbers students off and they gather in their appropriate group. They then work together to solve an equation or equations. The teacher will call out one of the groups number and that group will share how they worked together to come up with the solution.
Resources Used:
- “7 Engaging Math Games Teachers and Students Will Love: Share to Learn.” Concordia University-Portland, 19 Apr. 2018, blog.sharetolearn.com/classroom-resources/7-cooperative-math-games-teachers-and-students-will-love/.
- Todd, Jeff. “5 Math Activities That Promote Collaborative Learning in the Classroom.” 5 Math Activities That Promote Collaborative Learning in the Classroom, 2019, www.sadlier.com/school/sadlier-math-blog/5-math-activities-that-promote-student-collaboration-in-the-classroom-collaborative-learning.