Lesson Plan: Math "Figure Me Out"

This lesson was adapted from "Fourth Grade Fun in Florida" and "Beyond Traditional Math."

Looking for a Back-to-School (or End-of-the-Year) math activity? "Figure Me Out" is a great idea to get students thinking about math and numbers.  This activity gets students to use all operations.

First, have students do a rough draft. Students pick some facts about themselves that involve numbers. They write these down, then develop a number sentence that gets them to that number. When students are on their good copy, they write the fact with the answer underneath. Then, they put a post-it with their equation overtop their answer.  Make sure that their names are on the back and not the front!

Source: Fourth Grade Fun in Florida

Once they are decorated and colorful, hang them around the room (or in the hallway). Students go around solving the problems, and guessing whose is whose.

This can be differentiated for higher-level math students as well. Students might have to develop equations that follow PEMDAS.  Answers could also include solving for variables.

Here is a simple rubric that I developed with requirements for the mini poster. This was used for 5th grade at the end of the year:

Possible Questions: Also try to think of your own!! Age  Grade  Shoe size  Birth month  Birth date  Inches tall  # of letters in name  # Vacations been on  # of states visited  # of people in family  # of siblings  # of pets  House #  # of teeth lost  # of favorite athlete  # of books read this year  Favorite #

·      Need at least 8 total Use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division: All operations must be used at some point  1 must have parenthesis  1 must have a fraction  1 must have a decimal  1 must include an exponent  1 must include expanded form (example 100+20+5)  You can mix and match! Good copy should include: "Figure Me Out" Title Drawing of yourself Be neat & colorful

Tip: Have a yard stick ready to go! Students might choose to use their height in inches. This is perfect, because they get to practice measuring as well!