Math is an essential life skill. You use problem-solving every day.

The math strategies

you teach are needed, but many students have a difficult time making that connection
between math and life.

Math isn’t just done with a pencil and paper. It’s not just solving word problems in a
textbook. As an educator, you need fresh ways for math skills to stick while also keeping
your students engaged. 

In this article, we’re sharing 9 engaging math strategies to boost your students’
learning. Show your students how fun math can be, and let’s freshen up those lesson
plans!

Why are effective Math strategies so

important for students?
Unlike other subjects, math builds on itself. You can’t successfully move forward
without a strong understanding of previous materials. And this makes math instruction
difficult.

To succeed in math, students need to do more than memorize formulas or drill times
tables. They need to develop a full understanding of what their math lessons mean, and
how they translate into the real world. To reach that level of understanding, you need a
variety of teaching strategies. 

Conceptual understanding doesn’t just happen at the whiteboard. But it can be achieved
by incorporating fun math activities into your lessons, including 

 Hands-on practice
 Collaborative projects
 Gamified or game-based learning
Repetition and homework are important. But for these lessons to really stick, your
students need to find the excitement and wonder in math.

Getting students excited about Math

problems
Creating excitement around math can be an uphill battle. But it’s one you and your
students can win! 

Math is a challenging subject — both to teach and to learn. But it’s also one of the most
rewarding. Finding the right mix of fun and learning can bring a lot of excitement to
the classroom. 

Think about what your students already love doing. Video games? Legos? Use these
passions to create exciting math lesson plans your students can relate to. 

Hands-on math practice can engage students that have disconnected from math. Putting
away the pencils and textbooks and moving students out of their desks can re-energize
your classroom.

If you’re teaching elementary or middle school math, find ways for your students to
work together. Kids this age crave peer interaction. So don’t fight it — provide it! 

Play a variety of math games or puzzles. Give them a chance to problem-solve together.
Build real-world skills in the classroom while also boosting student confidence. 

And be sure to celebrate all the wins! It is easy to get bogged down with instruction and
testing. But even the smallest accomplishments are worth celebrating. And these
rewarding moments will keep your students motivated and pushing forward.
Top 9 math strategies for engaging
lessons
Keep reading to uncover all of our top math strategies for keeping your students excited
about math. 

1. Explicit instruction
You can’t always jump straight into the fun. Explicit instruction still provides the best
foundation for the activities to come. 

Set up your lesson for the day at the whiteboard, along with materials to demonstrate the
coming activities. Make sure to also focus on any new vocabulary and concepts. 

Tip: don't stay here for too long. Once the lesson is introduced, move on to the next fun
strategy for the day!

2. Conceptual understanding
Helping your students understand the concept behind the lesson is crucial, but not
always easy. Even your highest performing students may only be following a pattern to
solve problems, without grasping the “why.”

Visual aids and math manipulatives are some of your best tools to increase conceptual
understanding. Math is not a two dimensional subject. Even the best drawing of a cone
isn’t going to provide the same experience as holding one. Find ways to let your students
examine math from all sides.

Math manipulatives don’t need to be anything fancy. Basic wooden blocks, magnets,

molding clay and other toys can create great hands-on lessons. No need to invest in
expensive or hard-to-find materials. 
Math word problems are also a great time to break out a full-fledged demo. Hot Wheels
cars can demonstrate velocity and acceleration. A tape measure is an interactive way to
teach area and volume. These materials give your students a chance to bring math off the
page and into real life. 

3. Using concepts in Math vocabulary

There’s more than one way to say something. And the more ways you can describe a
mathematical concept, the better. Subtraction can also be described as taking away or
removing. Memorizing multiplication facts is useful, but seeing these numbers used to
calculate area gives them new meaning. 

Some math words are going to be unfamiliar. So to help students get comfortable with
these concepts, demonstrate and label math ideas throughout your classroom.
Understanding comes more easily when students are surrounded by new ideas. 

For example, create a division corner in your station rotations, with blocks to

demonstrate the concept of one number going into another. Use baskets and labels to
have students separate the blocks into each part of the division problem: dividend,
divisor, quotient and remainder.  

Give students time to explore, and teach them big ideas with both academic and
everyday terms. Demystify math and watch their confidence build!
4. Cooperative learning strategies
When students work together, it benefits everyone. More advanced students can lead,
helping them solidify their knowledge. And they may have just the right words to
describe an idea to others who are struggling.

It is rare in real-life situations for big problems to be solved alone. Cooperative

learning allows students to view a problem from various angles. This can lead to more
flexible, out-of-the-box thinking. 

After reviewing a word problem together as a class, ask small student groups to create
their own problems. What is something they care about that they can solve with these
skills? Involve them as much as possible in both the planning and solving. Encourage
each student to think about what they bring to the group. There’s no better preparation
for the future than learning to work as a team. 
5. Meaningful and frequent homework
When it comes to homework, it pays to think outside of textbooks and worksheets.
Repetition is important, but how can you keep it fun?

Create more meaningful homework by including games in your curriculum plans.

Encourage board game play or encourage families to play quiz-style games at home to
improve critical thinking, problem solving and basic math skills. 

Sometimes you need homework that doesn’t put extra work onto the parents. The end of
the day is already full for many families. To encourage practice and give parents a
break, assign game-based options like Prodigy Math Game for homework. 

With Prodigy, students can enjoy a fun, video game experience that helps them stay
excited and motivated to keep learning. They’ll practice math skills, while their parents
have time to fix dinner. Plus, you’ll get progress reports that can help you plan future
instruction. Win-win-win!    

Set an Assessment through your Prodigy teacher account today to reinforce what you’re
teaching in class and differentiate for student needs. 

6. Puzzle pieces math instruction

Some kids excel at math. But others pull back and may rarely participate. That lack of
confidence is hard to break through. How can you get your reluctant students to join in?

Try giving each student a piece of the puzzle. When you’re presenting your class with a
problem, this creates necessary collaboration to get to the solution. 

Each student is given a piece of information needed to solve the problem. A number, a
unit of measurement, or direction — break your problem into as many pieces as
possible. 
If you have a large class, break down three or more problems at a time. The first task:
find the other students who are working on your problem (try color-coding or using
symbols to distinguish each problem’s parts). Then watch the learning happen as
everyone plays their own important role. 

7. Verbalize math problems

There’s little time to slow down in the classroom. Instruction has to move fast to keep up
with the expected standards. And students feel that, too. 

When possible, try to set aside some time to ask about your students’ math struggles.
Make sure they know that they can come to you when they get stuck. Keep the
conversation open to their questions as much as possible.

One great way to encourage questions is to address common troubles students have
encountered in the past. Where have your past classes struggled? Point these out during
your explicit instruction, and let your students know this is a tricky area. 

It’s always encouraging to know you’re not alone in finding something difficult. This
also leaves the door open for questions, leading to more discovery and greater
understanding.

8. Reflection time
Providing time to reflect gives the brain a chance to process the work completed. This
can be done after both group and individual activities.
Group Reflection

After a collaborative activity, save some time for the group to discuss the project.
Encourage them to ask:

 What worked?
 What didn’t work?
 Did I learn a new approach?
 What could we have done differently?
 Did someone share something I had never thought of before? 

These questions encourage critical thinking. They also show the value of working
together with others to solve a problem. Everyone has different ways of approaching a
problem, and they’re all valuable.

Individual Reflection

One way to make math more approachable is to show how often math is
used. Journaling math encounters can be a great way for students to see that math is
all around. 

Ask them to add a little bit to their journal every day, even just a line or two. Where did
they encounter math outside of class? Or what have they learned in class that has helped
them at home? 
Math skills easily transfer outside of the classroom. Help them see how much they have
grown, both in terms of academics and social emotional learning.

9. Making Math facts fun

As a teacher, you know math is anything but boring. But transferring that passion to
your students is a tricky task. So how can you make learning math facts fun?

Play games! Math games are great classroom activities. Here are a few examples:

 Design and play a board game.

 Build structures and judge durability.
 Divide into groups for a quiz or game show. 
 Get kids moving and measure speed or distance jumped.
Even repetitive tasks can be fun with the right tools. That’s why engaging games are a
great way to help students build essential math skills. When students play Prodigy
Math Game, for example, they learn curriculum-aligned math facts without things
like worksheets or flashcards. This can help them become excited to play and learn! 

How teachers can refine Math strategies

Sometimes trying something new can make a huge difference for your students. But
don’t stress and try to change too much at once. 

You know your classroom and students best. Pick a couple of your favorite strategies
above and try them out. 

If you're looking to freshen up your math instruction, sign up for a free Prodigy

teacher account. Your students can jump right into the magic of the Prodigy Math
Game, and you’ll start seeing data on their progress right away! 

Basic Math Teaching Strategies

The building blocks of mathematics start early on, when learning the basic skills. The key to
teaching basic math skills that students can apply and remember for future instruction is to use
several teaching strategies.

Repetition
A simple strategy teachers can use to improve math skills is repetition. By repeating and
reviewing previous formulas, lessons, and information, students are better able to
comprehend concepts at a faster rate.
According to Professor W. Stephen Wilson from Johns Hopkins University, the core
concepts of basic math must be mastered before students are able to move into a more
advanced study. Repetition is a simple tool that makes it easier for students to master
the concepts without wasting time. According to the University of Minnesota, daily re-
looping or reviews will bring the previous lesson back into the spotlight and allow
teachers to build on those previous skills.

Timed testing
When teachers are moving beyond the simple concepts of numbers into addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division, it is important to incorporate timed tests that
review the previous class or several classes.

Taking a short test and then grading the test in class will help teachers assess student
understanding. When the test shows that students are answering more questions
correctly within the time period, teachers are able to determine that students have
mastered the basic skills.

Pair work
Mathematics is not limited to learning from a textbook, lessons, or testing strategy.
Students have different learning styles and need to have lessons that help improve all
styles of learning to get the best results.

Group work is a simple strategy that allows students to work and problem-solve with a
buddy. When a teacher has provided the basic instruction, it’s helpful to split the class
into pairs or groups to work on problems.

Since the pairs are working as a team, the students can discuss the problems and work
together to solve the issues. The goal of pair work is to teach students critical thinking
skills that are necessary for future math problems and real life.

Manipulation tools
The use of blocks, fruits, balls, or other manipulation tools help students learn the
basics of place value, addition, subtraction, and other areas of basic math. According
to Kate Nonesuch on the National Adult Learning Database of Canada, manipulation
tools help slow down the process of problem solving so that students are able to fully
understand the information.

Manipulation tools make it easier for students to learn and understand basic skills.
These are ideal when students learn best through hands-on experience and building,
rather than traditional lessons and repetition.
 Math games
Reinforcing the information learned in class is not always the easiest task for teachers,
but math games provide the opportunity to make the lesson interesting and encourage
students to remember the concepts.

Depending on the class size, computer availability, and the lesson being taught,
games can vary. Teachers can use computer games for the particular skills or can opt
to use class games to make the lesson more fun. Teachers should be sure to
incorporate a strategy into games to help students learn the material.

Math skills are an important part of life. To offer students the most help, teachers need
to incorporate several strategies to give students the opportunity for future growth.

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