After reading fairy tales or folk tales in class, divide the class into small groups. Assign a story to each group. Instruct them to add numerical information into the story. The revisions can include the time of events, the price of items mentioned in the story, and the age or number of people mentioned. Each small group writes five story questions using its new rendition of the classic tale. Exchange new stories and problems for another small group to answer.
Play a game of Math War in class. Divide the class into pairs and give a deck of playing cards to each pair. On the board, assign values to the face cards -- for example, a jack is worth 10, a queen 15 and a king 20 -- or remove the face cards and use only the numbered cards. Each pair divides the shuffled deck of cards in half. To play, each player flips two cards and then adds the two numbers. The player with the highest sum wins the round. Set a time for the match. The player with the most cards, when time is up, wins. The game can also be played as a subtraction or multiplication game.
Practice skip counting through a challenge. Show the class an easier and faster way to count people and objects. Count the class by twos while bouncing a rubber ball to help students get a rhythm. Have the class count in unison to the beat of the ball until they can do it without stumbling. Divide the class into small groups and hand each table a piece of paper. Tell the class that each group will be skip counting to 100. One student writes the number 2 and then quickly passes the paper to the person next to him, who writes the number 4, and so on until the group reaches 100. The first team to flip the paper over, and stand up when they are done, wins. Alternatives include skip counting by threes, fours or fives.
Have students start measurement journals to help them discover the practical applications of mathematics in everyday life. In the front of the journal, list all the tools of measurement they know. After measuring items found around the classroom, have them take the journal home and measure favorite objects in their home. Compare the size and weight of a variety of different items. Have them record their estimates as well as exact measurements.