Prior to the class, create a series of interesting shapes and animals using ordered pairs -- such as a puppy, sailboat and guitar. The shape should have more than 20 ordered pairs. Give the students each a sheet of graphing paper and tell them to create an x,y coordinate plane on their paper. Then, list the series of ordered pairs on the class board that creates one of the shapes. Instruct the students to graph the ordered pairs on their paper and then connect the dots to reveal the shape. The student who graphs all the points correctly and discovers the shape first wins.
Create as much floor space as possible by pushing desks, chairs and other items to the side of the classroom. Take a roll of masking tape and create a large coordinate plane with the strips of tape. Break the class into teams of four and let them pick a math related name for each team. Each team will pick a representative to play the game first. The team representatives will then all stand on the origin. Give commands in the manner of the Simon Says game that relate to coordinate planes. An example would be, "Simon says to stand in the quadrant where both x and y are positive." The students should then move to the first quadrant. The teams get a point each time their representative gets the question right. If a student gets the answer wrong or moves when you do not say "Simon says", they have to leave and another student from their team takes their place. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Hand each student several pieces of graph paper and have them make coordinate planes. Let the students pair up and turn their desks to face each other. Place a barrier in between the students so they are unable to see their partner's paper. The students should pick five ordered pairs and label them on their sheet. The students will then try and guess which ordered pairs their partner picked. Whoever discovers all five ordered pairs first wins. Have the winners play each other in tournament style until their is one class winner.
Give each student an index card -- that has an ordered pair written on the front -- face down on their desk. The order pairs should use smaller numbers -- ideally each axis should stop at 5 and -5. The students will then tape the index card on their forehead without looking at the ordered pair. Have the students walk around the classroom and allow them to give each other hints on what ordered pair is on their card without saying the numbers on the card. Students will then have to think of their knowledge of the coordinate planes system to help their classmates and themselves. An example of a hint could be," You are in the (II) quadrant" or "Your x coordinate is less than -1." The students should continue to play until all of the ordered pairs are discovered.