Cut & Paste Math Picture Puzzles

Sometimes I forget that my middle school students are still just kids. As a middle school math teacher, I get so caught up in all the standards I need to cover, the stress of state testing, reteaching content, meeting accommodations, and so on, that sometimes I need to step back and let my students still be kids. As much as I need a break sometimes, my students need a break from their rigorous studies even more so than me!

I came up with an activity that fits the bill - Math Cut & Paste Pictures! Students do between 9 to 16 math problems on the first page, depending on the skill. The second page has square puzzle pieces with the correct answers and parts of a picture drawn. The puzzle pieces are scattered in a different order and place. Once completed, the puzzle pieces line up to create a fun picture ready to be colored in.  

Students complete the math page first, then they can grab the puzzle pieces page. They have to cut out the pieces and match them on top of their work, making it a fun self-checking activity. 

There are always a few students who tell me they have the same answer more than once, or that they can’t find where a puzzle piece goes. It is a great opportunity for them to check their work and find their mistakes. The fact that the puzzle pieces create a recognizable picture help give them clues for the correct spot of the puzzle piece. 

I always have students glue the pieces halfway so we can flip up the piece and still see their work underneath - it is a math class after all!

This activity usually takes one 50 minute class period. It gives students the math practice they need while also giving them some SEL time - cutting paper, gluing, and coloring. I love to make a spot on my classroom wall to display the completed work. 

 

This is not a once per week activity, more like once per month or holiday. The first one I created for my students was Thanksgiving themed and for solving systems of equations when the two lines are already graphed. It was perfect for the days before Thanksgiving break because the concept was not a difficult one.  They also had a great time coloring in the pictures - and I always love when they think outside the box with their coloring creativity.  

So far I have created ones for New Year’s, Easter, Valentine’s Day and a couple that are Christmas or Winter themed. Check them out below!

Functions: Inputs and Outputs - Winter Themed

Finding Missing Side Lengths Using the Pythagorean Theorem - Valentine Themed

Calculating Slope Between Two Points - Holiday/Christmas Themed... and you can download this one for FREE!

Solving System of Equations using the Elimination Method - Christmas/Holiday Themed

Geometric Sequences - Valentine Themed

Volume of Cylinders, Cones and Spheres - Easter Egg Themed

Distribute and Combine Like Terms - New Year's Themed

The New Year’s Distribute and Combine Like Terms was probably one of my favorite ones because we completed it right when we came back from Winter Break, so it was a nice review of pre-algebra skills after our 3 week break. 

Some of the Cut & Paste activities also have a digital version that can be completed on Google Sheets. It’s a great option if you have students who are working from home on Independent Study.

But for the rest of the students, it is so pleasing to be able to do a hands-on activity just like they used to in elementary school. 

You can check out my collection of the cut and paste math pictures available HERE, including the FREE DOWNLOAD of Finding the Slope Between Two Points Holiday Cut and paste. And if you follow my TpT store, you will get notified when I create new cut and paste pictures - there should be some Halloween ones ready this Fall!

I make these for my students and to use in my classroom; so if you have a request for a specific skill or theme you’d like me to create for your classroom, please leave me a comment or send me a message!

Make a Hidden Message for an Escape Room

Creating escape rooms can be tedious because it can be tough to keep track of all the itty bitty pieces. I have been making Escape Room Math activities for my middle school math classes since 2017 and have figured out some ways to organize my process.

I’m going to share how to make a hidden message, or a fill in the blank Wheel of Fortune style. It's a great escape room activity! I teach math, so that’s what I am focused on, but if you want to create it for a different subject, you can definitely use this strategy and my Hidden Message Organizer!

Hidden Message for an Escape Room Activity

I have 5 teams working together to figure out the missing letters in the same message. So Team A might figure out letters in positions 1, 6, 11, and 16 and Team B would figure out the letters in positions 2, 7, 12, and 17. You can adjust it for any number of teams you want to use. 

Then, I follow this process:

1.  Decide on the message. 

What is your secret message you want discovered? I use the message as a clue to find the next activity in the Escape Room, so it leads to a hiding place. Some of the messages I have used include: "Pop Balloon”, “Check in the coffee mug and blue rain boots”, and “Look inside the candy dish”.

2. Write and label each letter in its place.

On a piece of paper, neatly write out your message and draw a line under each letter. Under the line, write the numerical place in the phrase. For instance, if I used “LOOK INSIDE THE CANDY DISH”, under the letter “C” would be the number 1 and under the letter “O” would be the number 2. The last letter “H” would have the number 22. This will help you organize your math problems to follow.

It will also help you decide if you want more or less letters. If it is important for each team to have the same amount of problems, you know you need to change your message. However, given the nature of these activities, teams do not need to have the same amount of problems. In fact, it may be desirable to have less for some so that you can discreetly differentiate for your students. 

3. Use the Hidden Message Planner.

Get your free copy of the hidden message planner from my Escape Room Math Activity Planner. Write the message in order on the planner so that each team gets a different letter from the same words. This spreads out solving the hidden message so that one team doesn’t get all the letters for the same word.  

4. Write your math problems.

Since you labeled each letter in the hidden message, you know exactly how many math problems you need.  There are two ways to approach this: you can either create 22 completely different problems, or you can reuse the same problems for each team, and just make the answer different (I recommend this option). It can be confusing to keep track of, which is why I recommend using my Hidden Message Organizer. 

If you reuse each problem then each team would get the same problem in row 1 on the Planning Guide, each team gets the same problem in row 2, and so on.

For example, each team solves 2x + 3 = 15 in row 1, but for Team A, the answer will lead them to the letter “L”, Teams B and C will have an answer that leads to the letter “O”, Team D will be led to the letter “K” and Team E will be led to the letter “I”.

It works out fine as long as each problem has a different answer. For instance, if I’m creating equations for them to solve, I will make sure only one equation has the answer x = 2. 

5. Create the Clue Card worksheets

Each team will need their own clue card. Decide how they will locate their letters. Each problem can have multiple choice options, or you can have an Answer Bank for all problems on the clue card.  Make sure to include distractor answers.

Each problem should be labeled by the number on the hidden message. For instance, Team C has the third letter on the hidden message, so the first problem on their Clue Card will be labeled as #3. Since I use the same problems for all teams, I mix them up in different orders on the clue card, but they’re always labeled correctly. This also means the Answer Banks will be different for each team. 

6. Check your work.

Test out each problem to make sure there are no mistakes. It helps to have a second person try it out since they are unfamiliar with the final answer. 

7. Prep for the Escape Room

You will need one sheet that has spaces for teams to fill in their letter answers, but only one per class because each team needs to put their letters on the same paper in order to reveal the hidden message. You will need clue cards for each team with their problems.  I recommend laminating the clue cards so that they can be reused. 

Extra Ideas

Coordinate Letters - each team can graph a letter or two on a coordinate plane in a connect-the-dots style. Then all the teams put their letters together to unscramble the message. THIS WEBSITE will create the ordered points for the hidden message for you.

Coordinate Plane Alphabet - you can also give students a coordinate plane with the alphabet graphed all across. Assign each team different coordinates to fill in the letters and discover the hidden message, or have them graph linear equations through the points to figure out the letter. Grab a set of the coordinate alphabet HERE and create your own activity!

If you’re not ready to create a full-on escape room, you can still create a fun hidden message activity that the whole class can collaborate on! You can also check out the Escape Room products I've created HERE!