It's time to get your glow on! Create a GLO Multiplication Facts Challenge (Got to Learn our Multiplication facts!) to help your students practice those multiplication facts. Teaching third graders to memorize their multiplication facts each year can be quite tedious, so why not make it a fun challenge? Take the boredom out of math practice, and engage your students by transforming your classroom. In just a few simple steps you can create a learning opportunity your students will never forget!
Setting up your classroom for a GLO party is rather easy. You simply need to cover all of the windows and doors with black paper. To help give off more light I covered a few windows with some black polka dotted paper. It was really fun once the black lights turned on. The darker you can get the room the better your party will glow! Once everything is blacked out you can set up for GLO math stations. I set up a long row of desks in the back, covered by a glow-in-the-dark table cloth. I used our classroom offices as partitions. For decor, I added some neon fringe curtains and glow-in-the-dark slinkies that hung from the ceiling.
The first station I set up was our Multiplication Scoot game. Students rotated through the stations answering multiplication facts for numbers 3 - 12. I set a timer to go off every minute to signal my students to rotate to the next station. We were not only looking for accuracy during this game, but speed as well. Once they completed their sheet, they would get checked out by a volunteer. For each row they got correct they would earn a neon jelly bracelet. The goal was to earn 10 bracelets for all the facts from 3 to 12. If they mastered them all they got an extra prize: a cool pair of shades!
The goal of this GLO game is simple: know your facts and have a steady hand. It's easy to transform those old wooden block games into a fun GLO game. Wrap edges of blocks with reflective tape and use glow-in-the-dark paint pens to write multiplication facts onto each block. Once it's dry you're ready to play. This game works best with just a few players. Each player grabs a block and reads the multiplication fact. If they get it right, they set it back on top. If they get it wrong, it goes in a pile off to the side. If the tower falls, the players have to quickly review any blocks they got wrong before resetting the game for the next players.
Depending on your number of students and how small or large you prefer your groups, you will need to make a few games that students can pair up and rotate through while the others are completing the SCOOT challenge. I created some flash cards and word problems that work nicely for this. I printed them on bright construction paper so they would glow, and students took turns solving them. I also created a game where the students could create groups to show multiplication problems. They would start by rolling the dice and then they would use glow in the dark frisbees to create groups with the first number rolled. They would then add glow beads to show the number in each group.
It's time to get glowing! Just add a couple of black lights around the room and you are all set to get your glo on. I tell my students all year, "We gotta learn our multiplication facts!" Might as well make it fun! This will be a lesson in multiplication that will have your students begging for more! So what are you waiting for? Get glowing!
