Give kids a hand with higher level thinking with this recently updated for distance learning Google Slide Math Projects.

One of the biggest complaints that I heard about distance learning in the spring was that it didn’t have enough substance. It wasn’t challenging enough to inspire higher level thinking. And if we’re honest, that is often a complaint about digital resources. They lean towards multiple choice, fact recall and oversimplified learning. But that doesn’t have to be the way. This summer I have been taking my math projects and creating digital resources with them that are easy to assign in Google Classroom, but also inspire higher level thinking.

Math Projects Promote Higher Level Thinking

Anytime that you leave learning open ended, you allow students to have a higher level of thinking. Projects are a great way of doing this.  In my Holiday Recipe Math Project, which is a FREE download on Teachers Pay Teachers, students choose a recipe that is important to any holiday they celebrate. They then use that recipe to research the amount of money they would need to spend to make that recipe, as well as the time the recipe would take. They work on rounding, elapsed time and all 4 operations. Depending on the recipe chosen and the place you choose to “shop”, this project has millions of different “correct answers”. This is just one example of how the open-endedness of projects is great for student learning.

Using Google Slides to Deliver Project Based Learning

The majority of projects are handed to students in printed worksheet form. This will not be beneficial to teachers or students during distance learning. To help students continue to access this higher level thinking during this challenging time, I have created Google Slide versions of all of my math projects. To assign this to students in Google Classroom, you create an assignment and give them each a copy of the Holiday Recipe Project Sheet. You may also provide them with links of where you want them to find their recipes or where you want them to “shop”. Each page of the project is on a new slide. The pages are set in such a way that students cannot accidentally erase the directions. However, there are text boxes available for students to simply click and type.

Download this FREE Holiday Recipe Math Project from my Teachers Pay Teachers store to increase the higher level thinking with your students this year.