Try these activities to assess your students' knowledge of Order of Operations.

Directions: Challenge your students to get a given number from a string of numbers.

• First give them a string of numbers with signs but no parentheses, and tell them they are to put parentheses in specific places to get the problem to work.

• Then when you feel enough samples have been given,  put the students in pairs or small groups.  Give them strips of paper and scrap paper and ask that they make up their own equations without parentheses.  (Make sure they also supply the answer!)   These strips can be used in different ways: as a bulletin board, as "flash cards",  or as daily math problems.

* Directions:  Challenge your students to express the  numbers 1 - 10 by combining only the number "4" with any (and all) mathematical operations.  They must make sure they use the order of operations correctly and use parentheses when needed.   e.g.  (4 x 4 + 4)/4 = 5    There may be more than one answer for many of the digits.  Then have the students explain why their order of operation works.

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* This activity is adapted from the NYS Education Site for classroom ideas.