Student solving Fun Five
While teaching the geometry unit, I wanted to set up a routine for when it was time for math. To give students responsibility of being ready to learn, I used the Fun Five method. At the start of math class, as students were coming in, there would be five problems written on the board. These problems varied in difficulty and were review from previous days lessons or from previous units. Students knew as they came in that Fun Five would be on the board. As they settled, they began working on these problems. This promoted self-regulation. After finishing the problems students volunteered to go up to the board and solve the problems, and then as a class we would correct them. Students really enjoyed Fun Five because as one student said, “It prepares my brain to learn math”.
At first it was difficult to get students working on Fun Five, but after a couple of weeks went by, it became a part of our daily math routine. Creating routines in the classroom allows for better management, thus resulting in a coherent community.