We’ve reached out to DynaMath teachers to find out how they bring energy and excitement into the math classroom. Below are our top 5 simple ways to make math engaging for every student. Read on to find out how!

Stories bring new worlds to life for readers. The same can happen with the world of math! Find fiction books for children that frame math struggles in a positive way, or that make numbers and equations feel fun and exciting. Do a class read-aloud with time for students to reflect on their own feelings about math.

Teacher Tip: Lynn Cashell, 4th Grade Teacher:

I begin every year reading The Math Curse by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. As I read, I list the math concepts the student is learning. After reading, I ask the students to write in their math journals their curses—what parts of math they do not feel very confident with (YET!). I also ask them to list their joys—those areas of math that they can be our "go-to" student for help. We then share our curses and joys. 

It is a great discussion, not only about all of the math topics we are learning, but it also builds confidence when they realize there are so many aspects of math and they can use their strengths to help raise or eliminate their curses.

Which numbers are uniquely yours? Everyone in the world has sets of numbers that are important to them, from their age to the street number of their favorite restaurant! Making students aware of all the numbers they already hold close to their hearts can help inspire them to find more to love in math. Check out DynaMath’s Prime or Composite Questionnaire for a fun number activity!

Teacher Tip: Chauntae Brown, 4th Grade Teacher:

My go-to activity to get students excited about math is called “Math About Me: Getting to Know Me Through Math.” I ask students a variety of questions (How old are you? How many pets do you have? How many siblings?), anything that will give a number for an answer. Instead of simply writing the number, students have to provide an equation to represent the number. 

With the equations for those same questions, I will then ask students to exchange with a partner. The partners work through the equations and see if they got the correct numbers. They talk and laugh about the answers. 

Math is everywhere! Whatever topics your students are interested in, it’s likely there is some type of math connection to be made. Making those connections clear is an easy way to make learning fun! For some ideas, check out our Hands-on Math text set. These articles pair engaging math activities with dozens of cool STEM careers!

Teacher Tip: Jaime McLaughlin, 5th Grade Math Teacher:

When introducing long division with decimal quotients, I have students look up their favorite baseball, basketball or football player and calculate their batting average, free throw percentage or pass completion percentage as a decimal to the thousandths place. 

When calculating sales tax and the total price of items purchased in stores or online, students will shop for their favorite items (i.e. phones, shoes, jeans, hats) online and calculate the sales tax and total price of that item to reinforce multiplication with decimals. This can also be done with items that are on sale to calculate the discount and the new sales price!

Your students’ math journey may still be in its early stages. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t already mathematicians! Let your students know how proud they should be of themselves for the work they have accomplished up to this point, and the work you know they will accomplish throughout the year. A true mathematician may not get the right answer on the first try, but they do always keep trying!

Teacher Tip: Farrah Gilani, 4th Grade Teacher:

This year I am going to try an activity suggested by Jo Boaler. I will have students create a poster, where they will include different parts of their identity (I am a writer, a hiker, a foodie, etc.) and on the bottom of the page it says, "And I am a mathematician." Then I intend to make a quilt and hang it in our classroom. I am excited to see how these will turn out.

I also make a chart called "Behaviors of Mathematicians" toward the beginning of the year. Each day we read it and add more to it. Students say things like, I drew a model, I worked with a partner, I wrote an equation, I used pattern blocks, etc. Later when I introduce the standards for mathematical practices, I make connections to the behaviors of mathematicians.  This is what mathematicians do and this is what we will be doing throughout the year.

Students are more engaged when they want and choose to learn. Letting students take control of their own learning journey is a great way to foster that feeling. Present your students with several options of activities, each distinctly different but equally designed to develop their math skills. For ideas, check out our Choice Board!

Teacher Tip: Erin Minick, Grades 3-5 Instructional Math Coach:

For this October, I created some pick your own math adventure type activities on Google Slides using DynaMath magazine. They’re colorful and fun, with a Halloween theme. Students get to choose which of 5 articles they want to read from links presented on one of the first slides. The links take them to later slides in the deck, where the activities and article links live. It’s similar to the Choose Your Own Adventure book series.