Practice with a Raffle

Yesterday, my pre-algebra peeps learned to factor monomials. As much as the term "skill, drill, kill" (is that what it is?) is not often deemed good math teaching, I do believe there is a place for it in the math classroom. Factoring monomials is one of those skills that students just need to be able to do. Quickly. Automatically.

Idea: To make the day more fun than a worksheet, I took a couple of worksheets (one from Kuta, obviously) and made a few copies. Then I cut each question out so it was on its own slip of paper. I had two stacks at the front of the room. Students factored the monomials, wrote their name on the back, and put it in the box. At the end of class, I would draw a name from the box and as long as the answer was correct, that student would win a Werther's Original!

My students were very into it! Of course, I was walking around checking for understanding and correcting any mistakes I saw. It was good to see a healthy, competitive side to them again. Sometimes trashketball gets a bit heated. I am DEFINITELY going to do this again.