Math + Art = Math Mat Glyphs

I am tired.  My belly hurts (though I did just go to the doctor today and everything is fine.  I just need more electrolytes and rest :) )  and my brain is a pile of mush by the end of the day (you know, prime blogging time ;) )  The end of the year this year really has hit me hard.  Anyone else feel that way???

I just wanted to share with you something I did in my room with my students that really helped to keep them academically focused, but allowed them to let their hair down just a bit and have some fun, which we all need at this time of year :)

These are a few of the mats you can make.

I created this Math Mat Glyph that focuses on the fraction skills we learned this year.  Basically, this is a "choose your own adventure" activity.  The kids start in one box, solve the problem, and then can choose which box to move to next based on the arrows.  They proceed this way until they reach the ending box.  Fun enough.  But then, the magic starts (OK....so it isn't magical, but it was fun)

Based on the answers the students arrived at within their path, they look on a picture menu that I created for them.  They match the answer to the picture and then have to create a scene with only the pictures that correspond to their answers.  Sounds so simple....and the kids LOVED it!










Once their first picture was done, they could choose to follow another path and create a different picture.  I am telling you, you have never seen such engaged kids.  They were all trying to come up with paths that were different from their tablemates!  In the pictures below you can see that all the kids chose a different path, leading to a different picture.  This allowed creativity while still sticking to the math!  What *I* liked is that they were all working on their fraction skills and they were *happy* about it!  :)

I actually did this in my room consumably at first.  I wanted to see if the kids liked it before I laminated it. ;)  But then, when I saw how many times they wanted to go back and do it again....I went for it and laminated the whole bunch.  Now I have my fraction centers ready to go for next year!
 
Anyway, I just wanted to share it. So hurry up and grab your copy and you can do this in the next week too!  (although, this doesn't have to be done at the end of the year.  This is an awesome activity for a fractions center during the year too ;) )

And, if you like it (or want a different skill) I also made one for multiplication!  Different pictures.  Different skill practice.  Same great fun!