Popcorn Math

freebie!

fun, easy review of math concepts

with integers, decimals & fractions

A few notes ...

{Set-up}
Teacher set-up is fairly simple for this activity. I found the popcorn
container at Meijer in the party aisle for less than $3. I have also
seen them at other similar places and party stores. For one
container I made one copy of the set of numbers on white paper and
two copies of the set of symbols on gold paper. Cutting apart and
crumpling up the pieces were the most time consuming. So if you have
a student helper that would be a fantastic job for them!
When I use this as a whole-group activity during the first week of
school, I have one container for each group of students. I do repeat
this activity in my math centers as we are working through our
number sense unit. That only requires one container for the number
of students I have. This is also a good activity for early-finishers at
the beginning of the year.

{How to play}
Students need a paper and pencil to record their answers. They
need to choose two white pieces of popcorn (integers, fractions and
decimals) and one buttery piece of popcorn (yellow math symbols).
They record the math problem they just created and solve it if it is a
math operation. For example, if I pulled the numbers 8 and 0.75 and
the addition symbol, I would write, "8 + 0.75 = 8.75" on my paper.
Math symbols include addition, subtraction, multiplication, division,
greater than/less than and equal signs. Use your judgement with the
equal sign that is included. I usually keep this sign out for whole
group, but put it in for math centers to up the level of difficulty. I
tell my students if they pull that one they must use the given numbers
and any operations they need to use to get the two sides equal to
each other.
The division sign can be tricky. I do a quick review of how to multiply
and divide fractions and decimals. But again, this is something you
need to use your judgement on. If students are not prepared for
that concept (or don't recall it!) simply take those pieces out.
Mrs D's Classroom

0.75

0.5

0.25

0.3

3
4

1
3

1
4
1
2

10

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14 15

16

17

12
18

-1

-2

-3

-4

-5

-6

-7

-8

-9

-10 -11 -12

-13 -14 -15
-16 -17 -18

=
+

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Thank you for your purchase!

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