Inside Outside Circles

Have you ever heard of this? It is a quick, engaging, and SUPER fun game that your kiddos can play with really topic. It's called Inside/Outside Circles.  For this particular lesson we were learning all about  greater than/ less than math problems using the popular alligator mouth. The first thing you do is split your class in half. Then create one circle (the inside circle) where everyone is facing out and another circle (the outside circle) around the outside of that circle where the kiddos are facing one of the "inside circle" members. The inside circle person comes up with a math problem and writes it on their wipe boards. Then when I say show them, they turn their boards to show the outside circle person the problem.  The outside person then solves the problem. The inside person should then check it, and compliment/coach the outside persons work.  Then when I say rotate the inside circle stays still while the outside circle moves to the right to a NEW inside person.  Then we repeat the process. After awhile, I will switch the roles of the inside/outside people so that everyone gets a chance to make up the problems. This is a great way to develop those higher thinking skills because they are making up the problems themselves. The kiddos always have a blast with this game! Here are some pictures of my kiddos playing:

The BEST thing about this game is that its FREE, HIGHLY ENGAGING, and can go with ANY topic you are studying!  I hope you can use this activity to keep your kiddos interest peeked as you close out your year!
P/S It is important to model this game VERY slowly to begin with as the moving can be confusing at first!