6th Grade Math Projects Checklist - Overview
In order to have a successful experience with 6th grade math projects for you and your students, be sure to go through this checklist to ensure the project is a success. Students must have the opportunity to show creativity while they are engaged and learning. It’s not enough to simply provide students with any 6th grade math projects and expect they will benefit from the experience.
Projects can be used as assessments or additional learning opportunities for students, but the focus must be on the mathematics and the standards. This is why prior to making any math projects for 6th grade students, I always check to ensure the students will be engaged, learning, part of the creative process, and focused mainly on the mathematics. This is important no matter what your goal is for your classroom. Whether you plan to implement math art projects for 6th grade, 6th grade math enrichment projects, or looking to fully implement 6th grade math project based learning, be sure to do a quick check of the items on this list.
Will the students be engaged in what they are doing and learning?
Getting students engaged in what they are learning is often half the battle. When students are engaged in what and how they are learning, they are often more successful. This should be a main focus when creating any math project. It is often recommended to make math projects connected to the real world. However, I would argue it is even more important to make the math projects connected to the students’ interests.
Not all math projects have to be real world related to be relevant or effective. In fact, some of my students benefit most from the silliness of some of my projects. For example, students love my Ratio Monster Family Project. Obviously, based on the title you can tell this project has nothing to do with the real world. However, the subject matter is like the hook to a great song. The students can’t resist no matter how silly it may be. Remember, your goal is to make fun 6th grade math projects, not just projects that relate to the real world.
What about real world 6th grade math projects?
Similarly, when making connections to the real world, be sure to include topics to which students can relate. For example, a geometry project where students design a mini-golf course is often viewed as more engaging in the eyes of a student compared to designing an office building. Both topics would require and assess the same standards, but by nature the former is more fun.
Likewise, a project on ratio tables showing the number of hydrogen and oxygen atoms in a given number of water molecules sounds like a snooze. However, a ratio table of your favorite recipe scaled to different serving sizes may leave a better taste in the mouths of your students. Choosing engaging content to create your math projects is extremely important. For more on this particular 6th grade math recipe project and other engaging ideas, read my list of Fifteen Ideas for 6th Grade Math Projects.
Congratulations! Your activities are engaging and your students are very excited about the projects they are going to complete. Although the battle may be won; the war is far from over. Even though students are engaged with 6th grade math projects, this does not always mean they are learning. This brings us to our next topic on the checklist. Learning opportunities.
Will the students learn during the experience?
To ensure students are learning from the experience, it is important to provide rich opportunities where some cognitive struggle may occur. Setting the bar slightly out of reach forces students to go above and beyond the basic skills learned during class.
For example, asking students to create a box plot when provided a set of data points from a textbook often results in little cognitive activity. The student follows the steps shown by the educator to draw a perfect looking display of the data. In contrast, when students collect their own data only to find the minimum, lower quartile, and median are all the same number, their thought process, understanding of the concept, and ability to create a solution is stretched further. It’s these experiences that ensure students are still learning while showing their knowledge of the content. For more on this particular example, check out my blog post about how to run a successful 6th grade statistics project.
What else could students learn through 6th grade math projects?
At times the skill students learn may not even be focused on the mathematics. Although that is one of the main topics in our 6th grade math projects checklist, realize that some of your students may learn new skills that are not related to math at all. These learning opportunities should be celebrated as well! For example, in that same 6th Grade Statistics Project mentioned above, many of my students learn new skills with Google Sheets and Google Slides in order to create their tables, line plots, box plots, and histograms. Furthermore, students refine their research skills and make advances in their use of technology. Even if the focus is on 6th grade common core math, projects are a great way to teach other important skills. If you haven’t already, I recommend checking out my list of Fifteen 6th Grade Math Project Ideas aligned to the common core standards.
Will the students have the opportunity to be creative?
After speaking with other educators, researching resources, and poking around the internet, too often I find teachers are the only ones partaking in the creative process involved in making math resources. Teachers and authors of math resources create elaborate color by number images, gorgeous pixel art, exceptional games, and overall, immensely creative resources. To our fault, this leads students further into believing math cannot be used to think creatively. Math is right or wrong.
The worksheet, which educators sometimes even refer to as a project, says if the answer is five, color the space red. If the answer is three, it’s blue. This is part of what makes some students hate math. Instead, I recommend allowing students to be the creative minds behind the resources. This can be done through a variety of means. One great place to start is through the use of 6th grade math projects. In fact, this creativity should take place throughout the entire year; however, too often teachers only use 6th grade end of year math projects.
Who is being creative in your classroom? You or the students?
Too often creativity is left to the teachers and creators of the resources. This is especially true when it comes to middle school mathematics. Educators often take it upon themselves to use the creative juices to make real world and meaningful connections to the mathematics for their students. However, it is important to make the shift and put students in the driver’s seat. Let them take the wheel and put the pedal to the metal creatively. Force them to make connections to mathematics and the world that surrounds them. This can be done by asking students to make their own connections to the real world or simply by allowing them to be the creators when it comes to making practice content.
Who says the students can’t design a color by number image where they make the answer key? Why not permit students to do their own research and find real world connections? Why can’t students write the multiple choice questions used as a review for standardized test preparation to be used in online games such as Kahoot, Quizizz, or GimKit?
The answer to each of these questions is simple. They can, they should, and they will, when provided the opportunity. Students can blossom in a class where they often feel stripped of all creativity. In fact, some of the projects I use with my students are so open ended the students have no choice but to be creative.
Too often I see resources claiming to be 6th grade common core math projects only to find it is a glorified worksheet. With a closer look, the resource ensures all students get the same answer and complete mostly all the same exact tasks. Not that there is anything wrong with this type of resource; however, when all students must get the same answer, they are stripped of their creativity. There is a time and place for this type of resource, but projects are no place for herding sheep. Students should experience 6th grade math projects free of some of the restraints brought on by other math activities.
Will the main focus of the project be mathematics?
Often when creating math projects, it is easy to get caught up in the real world connections or engaging aspects. At times the focus even shifts to the development of non-math related skills and the standards get left behind like the crust of those peanut butter and jelly sandwiches found in the freezer isle. Sure it is important that students are engaged, learning, and creative, but remember, anytime you create or use a project for math class, the focus must be, well, on the math.
When creating math projects for 6th grade, be sure to pick at least one standard in which students will be assessed or a standard in which students will develop their understanding. Use the standard or multiple standards as the focal point for the final product students will create. This component is most important when describing the project to students and when assessing students. Be sure to consider all the eligible content you plan to assess when creating your rubric. This should be the majority of your rubric because your main focus for the project is to improve or assess students’ ability in mathematics.
Math Projects for 6th Grade Checklist - In Summary
Before starting any 6th grade math projects in your classroom, be sure the project meets your goals for the learning experience. Your projects should be engaging, provide learning opportunities for your students, allow for student creativity, and focus on the standards being taught. If you need help coming up with project ideas for your next topic of study that check every box on this checklist, head over to my blog post and read my list of fifteen engaging 6th Grade Math Project Ideas. If creating your own project directions, rubrics, and templates sounds like more than you wish to pursue at the time, check out my bundle of ready to use 6th Grade Math Projects.
Interested in implementing projects in your middle school math class? This guide is a must!
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