Worksheets are boring! There are SO many ways to have students practice the concepts you have taught. But which ones are the best? I have tried a variety of math activities with my students and have found that these are the most engaging in my math classes. Here are my top 5 favorite activities to do in the secondary math classroom.

1. Task Cards

One of the best ways to ditch the boring, unengaging worksheets is to transform those worksheets into task cards. Task cards are so versatile and can be used with everything!

I use task cards in different ways depending on the concept and level of students. My students’ favorite way to complete task cards is called “Needle in the Haystack”. To do this I print multiple sets of the same task cards and spread them all out on a table or a group of desks. Students must come up to the table and select a few cards to do either individually or with a partner or small group. Once they are finished with the set of cards, they will bring them back to the table and sift through the remaining cards for cards that they have yet to complete. 

The best part of this doing task cards is that when students have completed a majority of the cards, they really have to look through the pile for the cards they have left. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack!

2. Small Group & Partner Work

Mathematical discourse plays a major role in understanding the math we are doing. I am always encouraging my students to talk through their problems. As teachers, we cannot be everywhere listening to all students talk through the problem they are on. Small group and partner work helps with this. Students can work with a small group (about 3-4) or a partner and work on problems together. 

One partner activity that works well in my class I like to call “I walk, You talk”. You pair two students together; one is the “walker” and the other is the “talker. The talker will talk through how to solve the problem and the walker will write down everything they say – even if they are wrong. Once they have solved the problem, and the walker notices a mistake, the pair can discuss the mistake and correct it. Then they will switch roles for each problem. 

I like to use small group activities where they cannot “divide and conquer” the problems. Instead, students solve their own problems and compare or combine their answers to reveal if they did it correctly. My students are loving activities where they have to add up their individual answers to get their group total. I have answer keys available for them to check and see if they are correct. If they check their answers and they are incorrect, they have to figure out as a team where they went wrong and correct it. 

3. Scavenger Hunts

Getting my students up and moving is so important when it comes to their learning. Obviously, it can be challenging to convince a teenager to get up out of their seats and do math problems. Scavenger hunts are too fun not to do in your classroom! Students will go around the room and solve problems to practice what they are learning. Students solve a problem and then search for the next one somewhere around the classroom. This activity keeps them engaged in the content and moving. It’s a win-win in a secondary math class!

4. Choice Boards

Once I started letting my students choose how they were learning, everything changed. They felt more in control of their learning and it was amazing to see what they were able to produce. There are many ways I give students voice and choice in my classroom, but my favorite is to use a choice board with short activities that help them practice the concept(s) we are learning. 

With choice boards, you can give activities that I mentioned above that create even more engagement in your math class. You could make the choice boards as complex or simple as you want. One easy way, is to give students a list of activities they can do to practice, and tell them to pick a certain number of those activities to complete.

5. Digital Activities  

One great thing to come out of the pandemic are digital activities. My students are obsessed with them! 

I started giving students digital mystery pixel art activities and they loved being able to guess what the picture would be. As they answered the questions correctly, different colored pixels will appear to reveal a picture. The best part of this was that if they are incorrect, no new pixels would appear and the answer box turns red. 

Having digital self-checking activities brought a whole new type of engagement to my math class. I will definitely continue to give digital activities to my students in the future!