Mayan Multiplication FREE

Mayan Multiplication includes a variety of exercises that reinforce users’ learning of multiplication. To begin, users must tap the “Play” button on the app’s main menu and then select or create a profile. Next, users are brought to the game screen, where they can choose one of five different activities. Each activity requires users to solve multiplication problems to earn points and complete the activity. In addition, users can modify the focus and difficulty of the activities by adjusting the settings on the game screen. As users complete the different activities, Mayan Multiplication records their work, and users can view their accomplishments by tapping the “Progress” button on the game screen. Users can also view their achievements by tapping the “Progress Tracker” button on the app’s main screen. For advanced information about this app and its functionalities, users can tap the “Educator Notes” button also on the main screen.

Please Note: Only a limited amount of content and options are available in this app for free. Users will have to make an in-app purchase in order to access all of this app’s features.

Instructional Ideas

1. During transition times or down time in class, teachers can have students practice their multiplication skills using this app. As they do, teachers can track student progress using the features in this app.
2. As a friendly class competition, teachers can challenge students to see who can earn the highest score by completing the activities in this app during a set amount of time (e.g., an hour, day, or week). As students complete activities and earn points, teachers can use the “tracker” feature in this app to monitor students’ achievements.
3. Two students can work together on this app. To do so, the two students can share one iPad. The first student will create a profile in this app and then complete an activity. The second student will then create a profile and complete the same activity, with the goal of beating the first student’s score. If the second student does beat the first student’s score, then the second student wins the round and begins the next round by selecting a new activity. If the second student does not beat the first student’s score, the first student wins the round and selects the next activity. This process will repeat itself until one student wins 3, 5, or 7 rounds!
4. After students become familiar with the different activities in this app, teachers can have students rank the activities from 1 to 5, with 1 being their favorite activity and 5 being their least favorite activity. In addition, students will have to write an explanation that justifies their rankings. Once finished, students can share their rankings on a class website or teachers can use them to springboard into a class conversation by asking: (1) What functionalities made the activity engaging?, (2) How would you improve an activity you did not like, and (3) If you could offer one piece of advice to the app developers to improve the activities, what would it be?