Boddle is an educational math game that targets students in kindergarten through sixth grade. It is tailored to meet student needs individually, providing practice and assessments that target specific areas while integrating gaming into math instruction. Boddle is a great supplemental tool to use during math instruction to provide differentiated instruction, assist in small group work, help in closing learning gaps, and enhance student engagement.

Why is Boddle Effective for Math Instruction?

As educators are in a current battle with the learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to identify gaps in learning and provide supports to fill them. Math has taken a significant hit throughout the pandemic, in part due to the lack of in-person instruction and the ability for teachers to check and provide feedback in real time for students.

Boddle provides a Learning Gaps Report that helps identify skills that teachers need to focus on in their lessons which, in turn, makes the lessons more effective. This report can also assist teachers in forming small groups and targeting students that need more support. The report can also help teachers prepare for conferences and have data to show parents about students and their strengths and weaknesses.

Boddle is aligned to state standards, so it is a great tool to supplement in the math classroom. The main concern I hear teachers speak about is time: time to plan, teach, assess, differentiate, provide interventions, etc. With a program that can simplify the differentiation process, it is more likely that teachers will use it, and continue to use it, consistently. This will increase results and have a more positive impact on student achievement.

Ways to Enhance Math Instruction Using Boddle

Small-Group Rotations

Boddle is a great way to enhance small group work in your math classroom. It can be used as a reinforcement tool that will level the work for your students. With all the demands being placed on teachers, it is hard to find work each day that will meet each student’s individual needs, but with a program such as this one, it does the work for you and can target students’ specific learning needs. Boddle is also fun for the students, so it can be the math center they are looking forward to most when doing classroom activities.

Homework

Though homework is being somewhat phased out in different school districts, this can be effective if you keep students motivated about using the program. Students get out what they put into something, so keep your motivated students moving and challenged. This is a great way to keep pushing your students to be the best they can be and provide an effective means to keep the learning going on in any environment.

Remote Learning

As we have students working through quarantine and being sick with the COVID-19 virus, Boddle is a great way to keep students working at home engaged in math. As a teacher, you can give students assignments that provide targeted practice with customized questions. This allows teachers to take into account various situations students face and will help not overwhelm (or underwhelm) them with work which can help to address gaps in learning remotely.

Another great feature of Boddle is the ability to monitor students as they work in remote locations. It shows the students working, the skills being practiced, and the length of time students have worked on each question.

Increase Student Engagement

Many students enjoy video games, so Boddle is a great way to incorporate this into your math lessons. Not only is it a game, but it is also an assessment tool, collecting data as the students use the program. Finding ways to make learning fun can be challenging, and using gaming can be one way to meet that challenge. Keeping students actively interested in learning is a great way to meet their needs better. Students can relate games to real life, so it can feel like less of a chore completing the “fun” math assignments.

Technology Factor

Boddle is a great way to incorporate technology into your classroom. Although we have had quite an experience over the past year and a half with learning using technology, as we transition back into a more traditional learning model, and more “paper and pencil” in math students can look forward to learning through gaming using Boddle.

While the traditional methods can be used to teach whole group and guided instruction, Boddle can supplement and provide interventions, re-teach, and even enrich students on a Chromebook, iPad, etc. Students in grades kindergarten through sixth grade have grown up learning while using technology. As it is used actively in day-to-day activities, jobs, learning, etc., it is a great way to have students focus on being more prepared for the real world.

In all, it has been a wild ride since March 2020 for students, educators, and parents alike. The common goal pre-pandemic and during the pandemic is always to keep students learning, engaged, and motivated. Boddle is a great math program that is appealing to students, but it provides much information to the teachers about how to best meet students’ individual needs. Using it as a supplement to your math instruction can give students an extra push to be their best!

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It’s math class, so let’s talk about numbers! There are many different components of a math lesson, and number talks can be one specific way to enhance student learning. Number talks are short, anywhere from five to fifteen minutes, where students are engaged in solving mental math problems. The goal of a number talk is to build math sense! This is important because it can help students in all areas of math, and most importantly, with their level of confidence.

What Math Concepts are Number Talks Appropriate For?

One important piece of information to begin with: number talks do not replace math instruction, they are meant to complement and enhance it. Number talks help to strengthen fluency, mental math strategies, and overall number sense. There are no specific math concepts that number talks are “appropriate” for, the students just need to have the ability to solve  through mental math. They help students to expand their thinking by having students create explanations to explain the way they are solving problems instead of just stating an answer. It allows teachers to peer into the students’ minds and understand their path of thinking.

What Do Number Talks Look Like?

Number talks should be a routine in the math classroom. They can serve as your warm-up for each day, or implement them on particular days of the week (for instance, Talk About it Tuesday and Figure it Out Friday) and start class with number talks on set days. Number talks have multiple steps in order to complete. The first step is that the teacher writes a problem on the board. These can be simple or complex, and they must be able to be completed using mental math by the students.

The second step is students actually solving the problem. Once students have used mental math to solve the problem, they give a thumbs-up. While they are waiting to share their answer, encourage students to think about an alternative way to solve the problem. If students come up with a second way to solve the problem, have them touch their shoulder with their pointer finger on their other hand. This encourages students to continue thinking about the problem even after they have determined a solution.

The third step is the Student Share Out. Students share their answers. The teacher lists all of the answers on the board without stating whether they are correct or incorrect. The fourth step is where the teacher revisits the student answers and has the students explain their mathematical thinking when solving the problem using mental math. The teacher writes the steps to solve on the board.

In the fifth step, a consensus is reached and a discussion emerges. Students should leave the number talk with multiple strategies to use to solve the problem using mental math. This shows students that not everyone’s math mind works in the same manner, and just because you think about problems differently, does not mean that it is incorrect.

In the sixth step, the teacher asks follow-up questions that would apply some of the skills gained during the number talk. The follow-up questions should build upon the original question the number talk was based on.

As the teacher, there are a few important tips to remember! Do not give students an idea of what the correct answer is. If the students are looking for a sign from you to what the correct answer is, do not give it to them. Focus on the explanations more than the answers. Make sure the classroom environment is a safe and positive one. Students should encourage one another to share. Provide students with sentence starters such as “I respectfully disagree” and “ I strongly agree” to create valid and empowering discussions.

Lastly, it is much more powerful to do shorter number talks frequently and regularly versus longer ones sporadically. Number talks can be a powerful tool in the classroom. Remind students that MATH has been said to mean “ Mistakes Allow Thinking to Happen”, so making mistakes can many times lead to higher levels of learning, growth, and academic achievement!

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Money Bags

For this activity, the money skills are literally in the bag! Place an assortment of play money at the math learning center, along with a student-labeled paper lunch bag. On the paper bag, randomly write down five different amounts of money. Keep the labeled bags at the learning center so students can easily search for their name and find their bag when it’s their turn to go to that center.

When a student is at the math center they choose, they circle one of the money amounts and then must match that amount with the play money. They must fill their bag with the matching amount. Students at the center take turns switching bags and checking that they match. If the amount inside the bag matches with amount circled, the student checking the bag places an X over that amount. If the money doesn’t match, the money is placed back into the center. This continues until all five amounts on the paper bag have an X on them.

Coupon Math

Your students will get a kick out of this math skills activity. Bring in a variety of coupons for students to search through and clip out. Allow students to choose two coupons to write a creative math problem about. Students must create a story about their trip to the supermarket, and they must include the following: the price of each item, how much money he/she has spent, as well as how much they have saved with their coupon. They must also include the proper calculations for their math problem.

Money Toss

If you’re looking for a fun hands-on money skills game, this is it. Divide students into small groups, about four to a group works well. Give each group a bag of coins, paper and a pencil, a bowl, and a piece of masking tape. Students must adhere the tape to the floor and take about five steps back and then place the bowl on the floor. To play, one student sits by the bowl and is the “counter,” while the other students stand behind the tape and are the “tossers.” Students take turns tossing coins into the bowl. If the coin lands in the bowl, the counter adds the value to their count. Each group continues playing until they reach the desired amount set by the teacher. Then, a new counter is picked and play continues.

Classroom Sale

Students will love shopping and selling while learning valuable money skills during this garage sale-type activity. Ask students to bring in a few items that they would like to part with. Then, as a class, decide upon how much each item will sell for. Have students create fun price tags to place on the items. Once the items are labeled, tagged, and in place, set up a play cash register and let students shop. Give each student a small bag of play money and allow them to take turns shopping for an item. You can designate a student to be at the cash register or you can be. This is a great activity to for students to understand the value of money.

Money Sort

This is another great money skills activity for your learning center. At the center, place a divided tray (a plastic tray like a vegetable tray with the circle in the middle), and on that tray, label each section penny, nickel, dime, quarter. Then, place all of the coins in the middle circle and have students sort money into the appropriate sections on the tray.

Money skills are an essential component in any math curriculum. You can use the subject of money as a strategy to reinforce basic math in a more interesting and engaging way. All the while, you will be teaching your students necessary skills that they will use the rest of their lives.

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