Home > Lesson Planning Channel > Lesson Planning Archives > Math > Lesson Planning Article

Back to Math Fun (Volume 3) Lesson Plan

Subjects

• Mathematics
  --Arithmetic
  

Grade

• K-2
• 3-5
• 6-8
• 9-12
  

Brief Description

Students advance the bases as they correctly answer math questions.

Objectives

Students will

• reinforce math skills with this fast-paced, fun game.

Keywords

math, math facts, computation, baseball, game

Materials Needed

• flash cards

Lesson Plan

It needn't be baseball season for you to slide in some baseball-math fun. To play the game, arrange students into two teams. Push desks back and form a baseball diamond. Set up home plate near a board or chart so, as students cross home plate, they can record the runs they score.

When the first team comes to the plate, provide a math problem for the first "batter" to solve.

This game can be used to reinforce any math computation skill. If you use it to reinforce simple math facts, however, the pace of the game will be quicker than if you use it for more complex computations.

• If the first batter solves her problem correctly, she is awarded first base.
• If the second batter solves his problem correctly, he takes first base and the runner on first moves to second.
• If the third batter gets her problem correct, the runners on first and second advance to second and third.
• If the fourth batter answers incorrectly, he records the team's first out and the runners do not advance.
• If the fifth batter answers correctly, she takes first base and the other runners advance. The runner on third crosses home and records on the chart or board a run for her team.
• When the team records three outs, the other team gets its first chance to "bat."

Ideas for Adapting the Game

• To slow the pace of the team changes, give each team four or five outs instead of three.
• Arrange students into three teams instead of two.
• Set a time limit for students' responses.
• Assign values to questions based on their difficulty. Easy questions score a base hit (single), more difficult questions score a two-bagger (double), even more difficult questions score a triple, and the most difficult questions of all score home runs. Allow students to choose the difficulty of the questions they answer.

Assessment

Lesson Plan Source

Education World

Submitted By

Gary Hopkins

National Standards

MATHEMATICS: Number and Operations
GRADES Pre-K - 2
NM-NUM.PK-2.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates
GRADES 3 - 5
NM-NUM.3-5.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates
GRADES 6 - 8
NM-NUM.6-8.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates
GRADES 9 - 12
NM-NUM.9-12.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates

Find more math fun activities in this week's Lesson Planning article, Math Fun (Volume 3).

You will find many additional math activities in Education World's Math Center.

Education World®
Copyright © 2004 Education World