In every Finnish math class I have visited, there is always a station in the room where students can go and check their work. This gets students up during the lesson. There are never lines or a problem with having only one checking sheet. Teachers taught expectations of how to use the reference guides at the start of the year.
Image from Pixabay
Math Strategies
Many teachers that I know have made their math lessons much more active. Math rotations, game based learning, and hands on learning that involves math concepts are fairly commonplace in US schools I have visited and worked in. Game based learning and more hands-on math activities are very popular at my school, so these would align with our current practice. Below are some ideas from Finland that they use to encourage more movement while teaching math.
Hopscotch
A hopscotch is such a versatile tool! I have seen foam hopscotches in many schools. Students can jump forward to practice counting multiples, identify even or odd numbers, give a 10s partner, or practice addition. They can then jump backwards to practice subtraction or counting down by multiples. It’s easy on the eyes and a great go to font for titles, paragraphs & more.
Checking Work
"How can I make this more active?"
RARS: Roll it!
This is a game activity to work with addition and subtraction. I tried to think of a name that is fun for kids and also a mnemonic device to remember this activity. R: roll it, A: Add it, R: roll it, S: subtract it. After students complete the addition and subtraction they check to see what their answer corresponds to on a chart (see image). They take a cube of the number that corresponds to their answer. The first one to 10 cubes wins!
Scavenger Hunt
Materials: cards with math problems, hard surface (clipboard or whiteboard), writing tool
Procedure: Post cards around the class or hallway. Have students walk from station to station solving various problems. In the classroom pictured, the teacher and teacher aide were walking around the check work. You might have a paper to have them save their work.
Sometimes students were paired up with only one hard surface and writing tool. They had to work together to solve the problems. Then to move to the next station they had to decide how they wanted to move. Would they hop? Walk backwards? Link arms? It was left up to them.