August is here, and that means Back to School Season has officially begun. It’s our favorite time of the year, so we’d like to celebrate by bringing you ideas and inspiration on ways you can enhance your math lessons with Buncee!
Whether you’re building a skyscraper or balancing a checkbook, math skills are an essential part of everyday life. In today’s society, with the rapid growth of science and technology, it is more important than ever for children to garner an interest in STEM subjects, and become strong math students. Buncee is an excellent tool for getting students interested in math as it helps them to be able to better visualize and communicate learned topics. With these ideas, you can use Buncee to teach essential Math skills to your students; and maybe even instill a love of Math!
Idea #1: Flipping Math Lessons & Teach with Khan Academy
With tools for text, video recording, and multiple choice questions, Buncee is perfect for a flipped lesson. Introduce a problem solving style by text, include a short video of you solving it, and put a question on the slide for students to self check. If your students don’t get it right, they can watch the video again, or write down a question to ask in class tomorrow! Your topic could take more than a minute to explain, so you may want to chunk it up with a few short videos. You can also upload your own YouTube tutorial, or search through the Khan Academy videos for a tutorial if you need one in a pinch!
Idea #2: Visualizing Word Problems
We’ve talked about this before. Solving word problems can be challenging, even for typically strong math students. With so much information packed into a question, students can feel overwhelmed and at a loss as to where to start! But, it certainly doesn’t have to be that way. In its basic form, math is a visual form of communication; and numbers are simply our way of communicating its logical practice! Integrating visual learning strategies into your lessons can therefore be a powerful supplement to your math instruction. Using visual aids can help students see the true vision behind mathematical concepts.
For your next math problem, use Buncee to integrate shapes, stickers and/or pictures to help your students visualize the logic behind the question. With the vast range of multimedia features available on Buncee, visualizing word problems can be super fun and engaging for students. So, give it a try! A visual strategy will not only enable students to learn how to communicate math concepts, but also allow them to see the creativity behind it.
Idea #3: QR Code Puzzles
Who doesn’t like solving a puzzle? Add a little mystery to your math lesson by having your students work together to solve problems that reveal clues and more puzzles that lead them to their eventual success (or reward) at the end! This idea will take a bit of planning but can be a super fun and interactive way to get your students to collaborate and work on problem-solving together.
Start off by breaking your students into small groups and assigning each of the students a Buncee that contains a different math problem. The students must work together to ensure that all of their team members have all of the right answers; and once they do, they scan a QR code, which is linked to a Buncee, that has a cryptographic puzzle for them to solve. This puzzle will then require the students to figure out the connection between all of their answers from their previous task. Have them decipher the answer, and it can reveal anything you’d like – even what surprise or treat they’re in for!
Idea #4: Create Self Checking Quizzes and Homework
You might not know it, but Buncee is a great tool for Self Checking Quizzes and Homework! Simply pop some quiz questions, or last night’s homework answers, into Buncee’s Multiple Choice Question tool. Now students can practice on their own time, and check their answers themselves when they’re all done. Or, if you’d like to take some data on their work, assign the page to them, and Buncee will score it for you!
Idea #5: Encourage Math Reflection
Reflection is one of the most powerful parts of problem-solving. If you can explain how you did something, your understanding is more solid. Have students create their own problem-solving journal, where they construct an answer to a problem, including a video or audio clip explaining how they solved it. Here is one example of how a student used Buncee’s audio recording feature to explain the thought process behind his calculus assignment.
Idea #6: Group Learning with Buncee Boards!
Learning is always better when we’re doing it together! Foster a collaborative culture of inquiry and study in your classroom by having your students work together to respond to math problems. Start off by assigning your students a math challenge, and have them use Buncees range of media options, such as text or audio and video recording, to create and reflect on their responses. Then, break your students into groups and have them share their work into a Buncee Board. There, they’ll be able to review each other’s responses, share emoticon reactions, as well as share feedback or additional ideas for improving their submissions. Sharing their work and ideas with one another in a closed, virtual space like Buncee Boards can help encourage your students to connect and seek ideas or guidance from their group members. In addition, you will be able to moderate and review their discussions as well.
Idea #7: Have Students Create and Share Tutorial Videos
Teaching something to someone else is not only a great way to demonstrate your mastery, it’s also a great way to cement that learning in yourself. So how awesome was it that Buncee Ambassador Barbie Monty had students creating math explanation videos in Buncee? What a great way for her students to grow, and to show that growth. And for the kids in such a class who are struggling? Peer learning is a powerful tool, so this is a double- winner!
Idea #8: Create Foldable 3D Printout Shapes
It can be difficult to visualize a 3D object on a 2D piece of paper, especially for younger learners. To give your students a fun, hands-on learning experience, you can use Buncee to create shapes that can be printed out and folded up into 3D objects.
This activity is much more effective than simply viewing the shapes in a book or a presentation, because they’re not only holding them in their hands but assembling the shapes themselves. And when students are actively engaged in their learning, it’s more likely to stick with them long after the lesson is over.
Idea #9: Math Coloring Buncee Sheets
Coloring can be a fun and relaxing activity for young learners (as well as adults)! Try adding an artistic twist to your traditional math lesson by having your students use their problem solving skills for this coloring activity!
This works similarly to a ‘color by number’. Using some of Buncee’s new coloring page stickers and backgrounds, instead of a number, add math equation into each of the blank spots of the image to color. Have each of the answers correspond to a specific color. Students can then solve the equations in the picture and then use the colors to bring the image to life! To do this activity, you can either print out the Buncee and hand it out to your students to color in with crayons and markers, or share it to each of your students’ accounts and have them color it in virtually! This activity is a fun way to engage students in math, especially for young learners!
Idea #10: Geometry Scavenger Hunt
Nothing brings excitement to a class quite like a scavenger hunt! For this idea, you can use Buncee for a fun scavenger hunt activity to help your students visualize what geometry looks like in real life!
To get started, use Buncee to create a checklist of shapes you want students to find. Using our shape stickers, or our drawing tool, fill the Buncee with a variety of geometrical shapes, along with a label for each; then print this out for each of your students. Now the exploring can begin! Have your students walk around the room and take pictures of objects that represent the shapes in your checklist. Once students finish taking their pictures, have them upload each onto their Buncee and use our different shape stickers and transparent options to highlight over what that shape is! This interactive activity will not only get students engaged, but will help them appreciate the shapes that surround them everyday.
These are just some of the ways in which you can use Buncee to enhance your math lessons. Did we miss any? If you have an idea for a math lesson using Buncee, be sure to tweet it at us @Buncee, and share it on our FB educator’s group page. Also, be sure to check out our Ways to Enhance Science Lessons With Buncee blog, as many of the ideas listed there can also be applied to math lessons. As you begin to prepare for your students, all of us at Buncee wish you a great start to your school year!
