Saturday, October 10, 2015

Alternatives to Worksheets

We all know that it is important for students to understand content deeply and be able to apply what they have learned.  However, there is still a need for basic skill practice from time to time.  My students hate worksheets as much as I do, so I've tried to come up with some more creative ways to practice skills.

Some of my favorite alternatives to worksheets are board games, color-by-numbers activities, and task cards.  Here are some examples that I have used recently.

Angle Addition Board Game:  Directions and Questions   I put out the directions and the cards and allow students to choose one childhood board game.  Right now I have snakes and ladders, trouble, and candy land.



Angle and Perpendicular Bisector Color-By-Numbers  I have collected some color by number images here that I pull from for these activities.  Then I just copy and paste some worksheet problems to create the activity.



Area and Perimeter Task Cards  Task Cards are a good way to have students work on challenging problems.  I also use them often for word problems.  Sometimes students can be thrown off by a long list of problems.  The task cards just split the work into manageable chunks.



2 comments:

  1. I'm at a school the limits the amount of copies we make every month. We have to get creative and use less worksheets. I used a color by number once and have wanted to get some more. Thanks for the idea.

    Teaching in an Organized Mess

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  2. Ugh, we rationed paper a few years ago :( My high school kids actually like all of this "little kid" stuff. I think they are just happy for the break from worksheet overload. The task cards and games are a great way to save paper for sure!

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