You’ve taught the concept, applied the skills in class activities, and are getting ready for some kind of assessment. You want to give a meaningful review activity to all of your students that challenges them at their level and gives accurate feedback on where they are at on the topic. One simple handout isn’t going to do it. That’s where Level Ups come in.
I created my Level Ups lessons to meet the differentiation needs of my students, and to provide them with a fun, challenging way to review for an upcoming assessment. Each lesson comes with 4-5 different levels of a concept, starting with the most basic pre-requisite skills, going up to questions that reach beyond the given grade level standard.
In a typical Level Up lesson I have all of the students start at Level 0 and complete every question on the handout. When they are finished, they can check their answers using the answer keys that I post around the room on the wall:
Once they have corrected all of their answers in red pen, they bring it to me for a quick debrief. Lots of red? We talk about the question that was the toughest for them. Maybe a quick mini-lesson on the whiteboard table. Everything correct? Nice, move on to the next level.
Either way, when a level is complete, students earn a raffle ticket that can be used to get a prize at the end of class (I shamelessly give out candy prizes). Yes, it’s extrinsic motivation. Yes, it’s cheap motivational bribery. Yes, it works. Students love completing each level and earning raffle tickets. Only now and then must I send a student back after a level is “complete” to show more work on their page or try a problem over again.
What happens when a student completes all of the levels in a single class period? Well, in this case I have two options available. I usually have about 6 sheet protectors containing a deeper thinking extension task based on the same topic like an Open Middle problem. Students can grab one of those and head back to their seat and start pondering.
The other option is that they become an expert helper in the room, giving assistance to students who might be stuck on a Level 0 or 1 sheet. If they provide good help to another student, they can both earn another raffle ticket in the drawing. Everybody wins.
I love Level Up days, because the students are highly engaged, I get to spend time with students who need the additional support, and everyone in the room is being challenged at the level they currently are. If this sounds like a great activity for your math classroom, you can check out all of my level ups here.
8th Grade Math
7th Grade Math
EZMath Blog 