Stand Up, Sit Down

When the children cheer at the mention of a game, you know it's a good one. I learned Stand Up, Sit Down from Dan Finkle when he offered a math games webinar on Christina Tondevold's site, Build Math Minds. (If you're an elementary math teacher, you should be following Christina's work.) 

Stand Up, Sit Down is basically a quick mathematical brain break. It sounds so simple that it almost seems impossible that my students love it so much. Tis true though.

• The teacher picks a number. 
• The teacher then states other numbers one at a time.
• If the numbers are above the original number, the students stand. 
• If the numbers are below that number, the students sit.

For example:

T: 9 is my number.
T: 4
S: sit
T: 14
S: stand

It's that simple.

But wait, there are variations.

• Choose a smaller or larger first number.
• State the numbers in the form of an equation. (ie. 4+4, 8-1) 
• Play the game with multiplication, division, fractions...

Give this one a try. Maybe your students will end up cheering too.

Thanks Dan and Christina!