Courtney Wenstrom

ELD 375: Lesson Reflection

Dr. Bulgar
April 21, 2011

Math Card Game

In my class, Erin and myself chose to play a card game with the students to

review their mathematical skills. Going into the lesson, we were a little unsure as to

how quickly the students would pick up on the overall idea of the game, and how

much they would enjoy it. We were sure to explain the directions in great detail,

using demonstrations and making sure there were no questions when it was

started.

The game consisted of groups of three, one group having four, and they were

in charge of running their own groups, and allowing their individual games to go at a

pace that was comfortable to them. I feel as if the overall game went very well, and

the students enjoyed the concept of it. As the game was in progress, I believe that it

was good that Erin and I both were constantly moving from group to group, just

observing what they were doing, and making sure that everyone was on the right

track. As I moved from group to group, I even asked them to play one round in front

of me, to ensure that I knew they were getting everything out of the game that they

were supposed to. Once we played several rounds, and the students sounded as

though they were starting to talk about other things, we decided to end it.

There are a few things that I think we did really well during the lesson. First,

the constantly walking around to the groups I believe made them feel more

comfortable, and helped clear up a few questions that they made have had. I also

liked the fact that we did a quick demonstration actually using one of the students
before we played the game, because that gave all the visual learners something to go

off of, and most likely cleared up some things that they may have been thinking.

Lastly, I liked the re-cap session that we had after the game was over. Once all the

students were sitting in their seats again, we asked them questions such as: what

they liked about the game, what were some strategies they used to solve the math

equations, and what did they learn from this game. This gave the children a chance

to give us feedback on our lesson themselves, while it solidified a lot of things in our

heads about what we thought they got out of this game.

On the other hand, some things that we could work on to bring into the next

lesson, if I ever choose to do this game again, were: we could give a better

introduction to the game, and actually sit on the floor so children are understanding

better, we could also allow the kids to choose their own time frames that they want

to switch partners/jobs. During the game, we just called switch a few times, giving

them 5-10 minutes to be in each job. What we didn’t even think about is that all the

groups were probably moving at different speeds, and were all getting different

number of rounds in each time. Next time, I feel as though I will say switch after

three or five rounds, ensuring that everyone is getting the appropriate amount of

practice in their math skills.

Overall, I believe that the lesson was a success. The students seemed really

engaged the whole time, and they found the game to be fun even though they were

practicing all the skills that they had been learning for weeks. This activity

combined fact families, addition, and subtraction all in one, and showed the kids that

math does not always have to be writing numbers, that it can be something really
fun and exciting. I think that I will be using this game in my future classrooms

someday, to work on all the things I discussed, and allow my students to see how

much they can learn from just a simple card game.