Making Math Fun with Gamification

Do you want your students to be excited about math and reinforce the math practice standards at the same time? We'll share info on how to do that. Chasing Einstein is a collaborative project between preservice teachers at DSU and students in 5th-7th grade classrooms. We'll tell the story and give you ideas for your own classroom.

---

Session Resources:

• Gamification of Learning - background info on gamification
• TheFunTheory.com - Piano stairs and other videos with gamification elements.
• The Pain Squad App - This app was created to gamify the process of collecting pain journals. (We didn't share this one during the presentation, but it's really good!)

Math Challenges:

• Polyup: https://www.polyup.com
• Solve Me: Mobiles: https://solveme.edc.org/mobiles
• Solve Me: Who Am I? https://solveme.edc.org/whoami
• Solve Me: Mystery Grid: https://solveme.edc.org/mysterygrid
• Mashup Math: https://mashupmath.com/freemathpuzzles
• Area Maze Puzzles: http://areamaze.com
• Open Middle: http://www.openmiddle.com/
• Estimation180: http://www.estimation180.com/
• Would You Rather: http://www.wouldyourathermath.com/
• Esti-Mysteries: https://www.stevewyborney.com/?p=1744
• Desmos Classroom Activities: https://teacher.desmos.com/​

Tech Tools Used:

• Google Sheets - used to manage scores
• Weebly - web site for the game
• Canva - web-based, graphics tool - used to create graphics for the game (team logos, etc.)
• Crazy Talk - software used to make characters speak
• Flipgrid - used to share videos with students
  
  

Books on Gamification:

• Explore Like a Pirate by Michael Matera - Lots of great ideas!
• The Gamification of Learning and Instruction by Karl M. Kapp

Presenters:

Kevin Smith
Assistant Professor
​Dakota State University
@KevinSmithSD

Jenna Grossenburg
5th Grade Teacher
Aberdeen OMT
@jgrossenburg

Brandi Antonsen
MSET Graduate Assistant
Dakota State University
@brandiantonsen

---

---