I’m confident that most adults remember learning their “times tables” (“multiplication tables”) when they were in school. It may now be quite a few years ago
but I still have vivid memories of learning them – it was one of the things that my own teachers really made sure that was imprinted on my brain. I can’t fault them for it – my teachers understood that knowing my times tables would not only be helpful to me in later life
but was also an essential precursor for more advanced mathematical topics.
We may live today in a world chock full of electronic calculators and digital computers
but knowing one’s multiplication tables remains an important skill. Learning multiplication may not have diminished in importance
but the way it is taught has certainly changed. Back when I was in school
most teachers taught their pupils times tables by frequently and regularly reciting them during class. Of course
many of today’s teachers still use recitation in their classrooms
but nowadays it’s also common for teachers to seek out interesting and engaging learning activities for their students. There are of course a vast range of possible activities that teachers could use in their classrooms
bu one activity that is getting more and more popular is the game of bingo
There are many reasons why bingo is being adopted by more and more educators. These reasons include the facts that:
1. The game is very simple to learn and play (even relatively young children can quickly learn to play the game).
2. Bingo is very flexible. Teachers can easily adapt the game to different lesson plans and subjects
3. No expensive materials are required.
4. It’s a lot of fun!
The vast majority of people are already familiar with the traditional game of bingo – having either played it themselves
or at least having seen others play it. Traditional bingo is of course normally played using bingo cards printed with numbers. Educational variants of the game are basically played in the same way
but instead of using cards containing numbers
cards containing items related to the subject being taught are used instead. Thus in times table bingo
the game would be played using bingo cards printed with multiplication problems. Of course
the entire purpose of writing math problems on the bingo cards is so that students can solve them – and therefore students should be required to write in the answers to each problem when it is called out (this can be done as an individual or class activity
depending on which style the teacher feels is better suited to the class).
One final thing that you’re probably still wondering about is where you can get times table bingo cards. Until recently you probably would have had to send off to them to a specialist publisher
but nowadays it’s much simpler and cheaper to print them yourself from your computer – download some bingo card generator software from the Internet
and the job becomes simple!