When it comes to math, I always embraced the phrase “there is more than one way to skin a cat.” I also believe that teaching is 1/4 prep and 3/4 theater.
It isn’t enough to prepare your lesson plans for a thorough discussion Math Bingo. it is also critical that a teacher can hold their students’ attention by devising creative methods to present new concepts.
Once my students have grasped a series of concepts, I love to review these concepts to mastery in the form of hands-on activities. One of my favorite activities is Math Bingo. It is a flexible game that accommodates most math concepts.
Many teachers have gotten hip to this activity, and have used them in the classroom for early finish activities and group assessments. Math bingo can work for K-12, and can range from basic addition bingo to multiplication bingo to geometry bingo . There are tons of possibilities.
How to Play Math Bingo
Meshing math with bingo does not alter the foundation of the game at all! It still includes game boards that you distribute to the players.
Present your students with a series of math questions. If they find the answer to those questions on their gamed board, they will mark the answer. Once a student marks an entire column, row and diagonal line of answers, they call out “BINGO,” and win the game.
Successful edutainment is discernible by the fact that learning becomes fun and teachers or speakers educate an audience in a manner which is both engaging and amusing.
– Stephanie Mitchell
May as Well Go Virtual
Sticking to tradition, most teachers utilize printable math bingo cards for their activities. Traditional bingo uses three sets of materials: 1) games boards for participants, 2) board markers and 3) call-out cards. That’s alot of physical materials to handle–not to mention, alot of touching and passing of objects. To maintain a safe, virus-free environment, cleaning all of those bingo markers and laminated boards after each game can be tedious. Going digital makes the process alot easier!
There are plenty of bingo maker applications that you can use to create virtual game cards. One of my faves is Bingo Baker (https://bingobaker.com/). I use it for most of my bingo games. It is so user friendly!
You can drag and drop images into each game board with ease, and choose how many game boards you want to create for your class. You can also choose from a quantity of 9 to 25 squares to add to your game boards.
The app provides straight-forward instructions on how to set up your game board, and how to share with your students.
It even tells you the probability of each bingo game. The app tells you how many calls you will have to make during a game before somebody can say “BINGO!”
It simply provides a link for you to share with your students. Each student gets a unique card. During the bingo game, your students will:
1) Click a box to mark their boards
2) Click a box again to unmark their boards
Your students are guaranteed to enjoy strengthening their math skills! I’ve used Bingo Maker to whip up assessments for every topic–from telling time on analog clocks to order of operations.
Get EXTRA Creative
For a few of my most recent bingo games, I decided to add a feature that really put a nice touch on the activity. My latest game is a fraction review.
Fraction Bingo
The objective was for the students to identify what picture represented the fraction that was announced by the bingo caller. Instead of me being the caller, I created a virtual bingo caller. He is a millennial guy with glasses–old enough to be a teacher, but young enough to still be “cool” with the students.
With the help of an IT gig on Fiverr, he is my first attempt to deliver a 2-dimensional video game. He doesn’t talk, but pulls the fractions from a bingo ball machine.
Halloween Multiplication Bingo
I also created a Halloween-themed bingo game that helps elementary students practice their multiplication facts.
This game is also virtual, so there is no need to print out any bingo cards. The “cute Millennial guy” calls the multiplication facts for the students to solve.
This time he is dressed like Frankenstein. For instance…if he pulls 9×4, the kids look for the answer 36 on their bingo card.
As a bonus, Halloween images have been added to the rows and columns. This cute clipart creates opportunities to win prizes.
If a student claims “BINGO!” and they have a picture in the winning row, column or diagonal, the teacher can offer a prize for the win.
Candy, keychain, gift cards can be used as prizes…the possibilities are endless!
Check out my Smorgasboard of Bingo Games!
As you can see…I put alot of effort and creativity into my students’ math activities.
I have a plethora of virtual (and paper) bingo games for you to choose from, based on grade and math topic. Check them out below!
Virtual Bingo Games
Paper-Based Bingo Games
Conclusion
Don’t hesitate to think out of the box, my fellow teachers! Bring edutainment to your classroom. There are so many creative options to choose from. Your students will appreciate it!
