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Adding Movement to the High School Math Classroom

3 Easy Ways to Add Movement to Your Math Classroom (that actually work)  It happens every year. You know what I'm talking about. The students are restless, attention spans are nonexistent, and asking them to sit for an entire period is a lost cause. Let's be honest, fighting it no longer works.  Why Movement Actually Helps Physical activity increases blood flow to the brain, which supports focus, memory, and the ability to process new information. Even short bursts of movement, like walking across the room, can help students reset and come back to a task with more mental clarity. Stop fighting the chaos. Build in movement instead. This is less of a "luxury" and more of a strategy. When students move with a purpose, they are more likely to reengage with content instead of mentally checking out. I am not talking about having brain breaks or a full on dance party. Just a few minutes of purposeful movement seamlessly integrated into your lesson is enough to make a differe...
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Capture the Flag Review Game

 Capture the Flag - Review Style!


Do your students complain when it comes time to review for their chapter test? Are they tired of getting a review worksheet or packet and then spend the period complaining about having to do more work? 

I was tired of the same few kids doing the review (you know - the ones who don't need to do the review) while the rest of the class did little to nothing. I knew I needed a change. 

What is Capture the Flag Review

Teams must work together on the review one question at a time. When their team gets a question correct, they get to capture a flag from another team and place it on their board space. The team with the highest (or lowest - let the class decide before starting the game) points wins. The catch is, they don't know the value of the flags until the game is over. 

Supplies

  • Review worksheet and answers
  • 6 Flags per team copied on colored card stock (laminate to help flags last)
    • I found these for free on TPT
  • Magnets (I used these from Amazon - aff link)


How to Play

Decide as a class if they want the team with the highest of lowest points to win. Split the class into teams of 3 or 4 and give everyone a worksheet. Teams work together answering one question at a time on their review. After everyone in their team has the work and the answer for a question, they raise their hand and the teacher checks the teams papers. 

Everyone in the team must have all of the work and the answer before they are counted correct. I also do not allow students to move on to another question until the entire team is ready - otherwise they forfeit that question. 

When a team gets the question correct, they go up to the board and take a flag from another team and place it in their space. They can then work on another question. 



End of the Game

You can decide if the game is over when one team has no flags, or when all teams are done with the review (or when you run out of time in class). 


How Teams Score Points

At the end of the game, pull up a random number generator and enter the values from -10 to 10 and use this to assign point values to each color flag. The team with the highest (or lowest - depending on what the class decided at the start) wins! 




You can watch THIS YouTube video where I talk about the game. 
I made an Instagram Reel about this game as well - you can check it out HERE.



Have a mathy day!

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