Multiplication is an important math skill that children need to learn. Like most mathematical and arithmetical skills it improves with practice – however while practice is important, it needs to be done in a way that is interesting for students, as in that case they tend to pay more attention, learn more quickly, and retain more of what they have learned.
One activity that many teachers have introduced into their classrooms is bingo. The idea is to have a fun activity that students will enjoy, but nevertheless assists with learning. This is done by adapting the standard game of bingo to help teach multiplication (bingo can also be easily adapted to teaching other math topics such as additions, subtractions, division, fractions, decimals and rounding). The way multiplication bingo is played is:
1. Before class, the teacher selects a set of multiplication problems. The problems can be as easy or as hard as the teacher likes – they can range for simple “times tables” up to complicated long multiplication problems. The are really no restrictions, although it is best to choose problems each of which has a different answer.
2. The teacher prepares a set of bingo cards (one per student) containing the answers to the problems. Please note, these do not need to be prepared by hand, but can be easily made using a computer and some bingo card maker software.
3. The class then plays bingo, with the teacher taking the role of the bingo caller. However, instead of calling out the numbers on the cards, the teacher instead calls out the problems. The student’s goal is to solve each problem and see if the answer appears on their bingo card.
Math bingo games are interesting and enjoyable classroom activity that many teachers are now using to help teach math. The games are simple enough to be suitable for almost all students, except perhaps the very youngest, and are flexible enough to be easily adapted to teaching a diverse range of mathematical topics including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, decimals, fractions, rounding etc.
The way that these games are played is as follows:-
1. Before class the teacher selects a range of math problems on the chosen topic. The problems can be as easy as hard as the teacher feels is appropriate. The only criteria in choosing the problems is (a) you need enough problems, and (b) each problem should have a different answer.
2. The teacher then prepares a set of bingo cards, one per student, contain a different arrangement of the answers to the math problems. This might sound like a lot of work, but it is actually quite simple. The teacher simply enters the answers to the math problems into a bingo card maker program on her computer, and the software will automatically print out as many different bingo cards as needed.
3. Each student is given a bingo card, and the class then plays the game of bingo. The teacher takes the role of the bingo caller, but instead of calling out the numbers on the bingo cards, calls out the math problems (or writes them on the board). The student’s task is to solve each problem and then see if they can find the answer on their bingo card.
While the game of bingo is usually thought of a leisure activity, and indeed it is often played as such, it is also true that variations on the standard game of bingo are often used by teachers and educators. Indeed versions of bingo have been applied to teaching of K-12 subjects such as reading, vocabulary and math, to teaching foreign languages such as Spanish, French, German and Italian, and in corporate training environments, for example in safety courses.
Some examples of educational variants of bingo include:
* Sight Word Bingo – This is used to help teach children reading skills, particularly of sight words (such as words on the Dolch sight word list), which are words that students can not easily sound out but most learn to recognize. The teacher calls out a word, and the students look for the corresponding word printed on their bingo worksheet (or “bingo card”).
* Math Bingo – This version of bingo is played using bingo worksheets printed with numbers. However, these are not the standard numbers used on bingo cards, but instead are the answers to math problems called out by the teacher. The problems can be as hard or as easy as the teacher chooses, and this method can be used for a variety of math topics include additions, subtractions, multiplications, divisions, fractions, decimals, rounding, etc.
* Foreign Language Bingo – The bingo worksheets are printed with words in the particular foreign language, say Spanish, and the teacher makes bingo calls in English. Students must translate the bingo calls, and then find the corresponding square on their bingo worksheet.
There are of course many other educational variations of bingo, and innovative educators are sure to come up with yet more ideas on this theme. The key requirement of course to using any of these versions of bingo in the classroom is having a set of bingo worksheets with the appropriate items for the particular lesson. In some cases it may be possible to buy such worksheets preprinted, but they can be expensive, and of course preprinted items do not allow the teacher to choose exactly the items they should contain. A cheaper and more flexible approach may therefore be to use a computer and some bingo worksheet maker software – that way the teacher can easily print custom bingo worksheets whenever they are needed.
Most people are familiar with the game of bingo. We tend to think of it as a leisurely game mostly by played by seniors, and while this is often the case, it is also the case that variations of the standard game are also used in teaching – including in K-12 education and in Englishas a Foreign/Second Language (usually abbreviated to “EFL” or “ESL”) classes. Additionally, games of bingo can also be a fun activity for social and family events such as wedding showers, baby showers, and family gatherings at holidays such as July 4th, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
As you probably know, standard games of bingo are played using bingo worksheets (also known as “bingo cards”) containing a selection of numbers – the bingo players’ goal is to find matching squares as numbers are called out by the bingo caller. In educational and holiday versions of bingo however, the game play is varied somewhat – the squares can contain letters, words or phrases appropriate to the particular game – for example, in a game of Christmas bingo, the squares might contain words such as “Santa Claus”, “Christmas Tree”, and “Magi”. Likewise, in an educational game, the contents of the bingo worksheets will be based on the particular subject or lesson being taught – in a game of math bingo, the squares may contain numbers which are answers to math problems called out by the teacher, in a game of reading bingo, the squares might contain words chosen from the Dolch sight word list, and so on.
If you want to play one of these variants of bingo, the main requirement is of course a suitable set of bingo worksheets containing the appropriate items for your chosen theme. Preparing a different bingo worksheet for each player might sound like a lot of work, but actually it is not so hard – a computer and some bingo worksheet maker software can make the job quick and easy.
More dropout students every year produced by public education schools. Actual performance of public schools fails even the graduating students. Contrast our schools with other schools who spend far less and have their students deliver more. Public education is not a self-regulating organization because it has no measurements of performance. Good teachers can’t be rewarded and poor teachers can’t be fired.
The state and the NEA both believe they know what to do for our students but it is not the following:
Student performance standards
College track
Craftsman or business trade
Adult Basic Education
Internet & computers
Alternative learning skills
The state people doesn’t want to be held responsible for public education just a well paid position. NEA staff appear to have the revolutionary fervor of a zealot to keep everyone but them out of education. Especially the control of education.
So why hasn’t the problem been solved? I’m taking a chance telling you this!
The solution must be creative.
It must be usable by existing teachers.
It must be affordable.
It must work and not be a fad for today gone tomorrow.
Students, teachers and parents buy in.
Public Education that worked would benefit students and teachers not the NEA or the school administration staff. These two only chase problems not get ahead or cure them. No child left behind means dropout creation. A mind is a terrible thing to waste means that some minds are better than other minds to waste. Public education has a jargon a vocabulary of codewords to depict and describe the real environment by smooth soothing words that are nice to the ears and mean nothing to the mind.
What is diversity? The single culture that accepts inferior cultures. Boys compete and girls collaborate. Education is a gender based organization of females on a mission in America. Males need not apply if equal treatment and acceptance is expected! Females need special treatment because they are better than males.
Students need to be able to contribute and live in an American society. That means the student who wants a college education must show performance in subjects that prepare for college. A student who doesn’t really want to fit in to the college life should be in a trade, business, or a craftsman role with the education that allows a job and a life! Some students fit in neither category and must be given an adult basic education. An education that allows them the means to survive and even to grow. These three educational tracks need to planned and rolled out.
We as parents, employers, and students know that the current public educational model has failed Americans. Students are being killed in our public school systems! If schools couldn’t teach dropouts why are we surprised to find out that the street has some employment opportunities they can use. Why can’t the NEA, governments, teachers describe a functioning public educational system that:
Teaches the student.
Prepares the student for employment.
Prepares the student for professional careers
Prepares the student for a craft or trade job.
Has the student learn to read and write to a specified level.
Allows student to gain insight as to how America is really run.
There is nothing wrong with being Black, Hispanic, Italian, Asian, or etc,.
What is needed and needed now is change! We can’t keep making the same decisions and expecting a different outcome. You don’t mix peas and Lima beans in a bowl and expect cherry ice cream! Don’t tell me that Johnny can’t multiply 13 times 28 in his head and get the correct answer by grade 11. I don’t believe Johnny can fool 10 or more teachers about his multiplication skills. Or is it that Johnny is not really tested for anything other than not talking back to the teacher.
We may have people in a job where the outcome of their efforts is not important to them!
Now three people need to work together:
Students
Parents
Teachers
Do we know how many people other than teachers and students we need in a school to handle non-teacher duties? God help us if we don’t. I would like to know on a yearly basis what worked and what did nothing or failed.
The GED is a band-aid for a problem society created and ignored. The yearly graduates of our public school systems are a mere drop in the adult population. If we want more from the labor force we better know how to train them because high school graduates will not give us the numbers of people we need.
Ronald E. Newton retired IBM Networking Consultant
25+ years developing online business networks, promoting and establishing
online classes for the GED and SAT preparation.
Resides: Greensboro, NC
Education: BS CNE CCNA MCP
Website: www.newtonclass.com
You may contact me at my website.
