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| CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE TO READ ABOUT MORE GREAT IDEAS THAT SPARK STUDENT MOTIVATION AT HEAD OVER HEELS FOR TEACHING! |
It is that time of year when students start to get restless. They are ready for spring to be sprung! Here in Ontario, mother nature is not taking the hint. We are still experiencing below zero temperatures and even last week there was snow!
Novelty really helps keep middle school aged student motivated. Candy usually appeals to ALL students, so I decided to try a new approach to teaching about the 3 M's and R (Mean, Median, Mode and Range). I purchased this lesson from Teaching With a Mountain View several months ago and this week seemed like the right time to give it a whirl. I purchased individual packages of Skittles at the local dollar store and we were ready.
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Round One involved opening the coveted bag of Skittles, and then counting and recording the number of each colour of Skittle in the bag. After doing this students totalled their number of Skittles. After that, they used their information to find the mean, median, mode and range of their data.
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In round two, students exchanged their data with a partner. They then had to find the mean, median, mode and range for BOTH sets of data.
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Rounds three and four involved combining data with another group of two and finding the 3M's and R for the ENTIRE group of four and then group of eight.
Finally, students used the data from round three to create a graph displaying the total number of each colour of Skittles for the entire group of four. I challenged the students to go beyond creating a bar graph, and to create a graph which was something more sophisticated.
For more AWESOME Skittle Math activities you can also purchase
For more AWESOME Skittle Math activities you can also purchase
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| CLICK ON IMAGE TO GO TO TEACHING WITH A MOUNTAIN VIEW'S TPT STORE. |
As an extension activity, I assigned the students the mean, median, mode and range posters from Runde's Room Math Concept Posters. I posted a copy of the image from the top of this post in several key areas in the classroom. Hopefully they will recognize that they need to record it on their posters!
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| CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE TO VISIT RUNDE'S ROOM STORE ON TPT. |
That looks like an awesome lesson!
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting! My students really enjoyed it, they were fully engaged the whole time!
DeleteCandy is ALWAYS motivating to kids-especially those Sour Skittles! Fun lesson! I can't believe you have such cold weather still! Yikes!
ReplyDeleteJoanne
Head Over Heels For Teaching
Today is better Joanne, I actually pulled out my sandals...but wore them with pants and a long sleeve top....really I probably shouldn't have...my hubby said my feet look "weirdly translucent". Anyhow, thanks for stopping by, I was so MOTIVATED that I hopped over to link up with your linky today~my first time! Have a wonderful long weekend!
DeleteSidney
I love that little rhyme for remembering mean, median, mode and range. That's always a tough one for my 4th graders.
ReplyDeleteJennifer
Mrs. Laffin's Laughings
I had my students record it as part of their math concept posters...Jennifer Runde left a spot on each poster for students to record something which would help them remember the meaning. Brilliant!
DeleteGreat ideas! I wish I could use it but my school does not allow junk food. I am going to save this idea for later :)
ReplyDeleteKristy,
DeleteMy school probably doesn't "allow" it either under policy PM120 or whatever it is called, but I didn't give them to the kids to EAT I gave them to them for math purposes. Many of them have actually NOT eaten them after using them! We also did an analysis of the calories and fat and sugar as part of another Skittle Math project I gave them. I got those additional activities from Teaching With a Mountain as well.