Back after a loooong break!

Hello! It's been a long time since I've blogged I know... things have been ridiculously busy so my blogging has taken a bit of a back seat. My goal is to get back in to the swing of things now that the work year is winding down and I'll (hopefully!) have a bit more time!

I'm home with two sick kids today, so while they're both resting, I thought I'd pop up a quick post to share a little collection of Maths games that I put together for some of the teachers at my school.

These Maths games are designed for year 1/2 though you could easily adapt them for older students. I'm not really sure where I got the games from... they're just ones I've picked up over the years!




Here's a couple of the games included :)



 

If you'd like to download a copy, just click here.

If you're also winding up for the year... have a wonderful last couple of weeks! And for everyone else, enjoy the lead up to the festive season :)

A rainbow facts card game

 

We are on holidays in South Australia... this term they have felt so long overdue! My mind must've been super ready for holidays, it only took me a couple of days to forget which day of the week it was - I love it!

 

Today I thought I'd share a simple little card game that's great to  play with kids to develop their understanding of rainbow facts (or bonds to 10), it's basically a modified version of Go Fish.

 

This game is great to play in small groups (3 or 4) but it can work in pairs too. You'll need a pack of cards (Ace=1, picture cards removed) to play, and I also often give students a sheet with the rainbow facts on it for support if needed.

 

You can get a copy of this sheet here

 

 

The aim of the game is to have the most pairs at the end of the game, but instead of pairs being the traditional matching numbers, they are the numbers that go together to make 10. So for example, if I had a 4, the matching card would have a 6 on it.

 

The dealer gives each player 5 cards, and the rest of the cards are placed in a pile in the middle. Everyone then checks their cards, and sets aside any pairs that they already have. If a player ever has less than 5 cards, they will need to pick up cards from the middle pile, so that all players have 5 cards at all times.  Player 1 then chooses another player and asks them for a particular card.....


Start with five cards...



.....and make pairs....

 


..... 8 and 2 is 10

 
 

 

ie. Player 1 (who has an 8 already)-  'Sam, do you have a 2?'

 

If Sam does have a 2, she will give the card to Player 1, if not, they will need to pic up another card from the pile.

 

The game continues like this until all the cards are gone, then the person with the most pairs is the winner!

 

 

A favourite Maths website... so useful!

Do you use the NZ Maths website? If not, I would definitely recommend checking it out!

Although its designed for NZ teachers, anyone can access it and it has a ton of amazing ideas and resources for teaching maths.

At the moment, I'm working with a lot of teachers at my school on problem solving, so I've been heading to the problem solving section a lot. There you can find a range of lesson plans around problem solving, sorted by level and strand... soooo handy!

I also LOVE the collection of picture books with mathematical content.... a really comprehensive list of books across the year levels that you can use to support kids maths understanding.

If you haven't had a chance yet, pop on over to www.nzmaths.co.nz when you get a chance.... it's one of those great websites that has awesome resources that you could just pick up and run with... and it's free!

Doubles game for Friday Game Day

We've had a huge couple of weeks at work... lots of prep for our open night which was on Thursday - it was a great night!

I organised a Numeracy display and shared some of the whole school focus that we've had in Maths... Problem Solving and Mental Computation skills. For Friday Game Day I thought today I'd share a quick little game that I had set up to practice doubles...

I normally play this game in pairs, but you could do it individually or in threes. Each player needs to write the numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 on  a piece of paper (or up to 20 if you're using 1-10 die) and each group will need a die (I start with a six-sided die and then move to a 1-10 die when kids are getting the hang it). I usually have a couple of ten frames and some counters available for kids to use to help them work out their doubles.

Player 1 rolls the die and then works out double that number. They then cross that double off of their list. The next player then has a turn and the game continues until one person has all of their doubles crossed off - they're the winner!

If I roll a 2, I would cover double 2 (4) on my board

I've linked this post up with Kerry and Paula (from iSURF Maths) Maths game Linky... click on the link to discover some fabulous maths games!

http://isurfkp.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/maths-linky-6.html

Bonds to 10... Friday Game Day

This little game is great for practicing Bonds to 10 (or rainbow facts, friendly numbers - they seem to have many names!). I haven't played it in my class for a while, but I was playing with a group of kids this week and they loved it, so I thought I'd share it with you too :)



Here is a little free Bonds to 10 poster

To play this game, you'll need a 1-10 die or a 1-10 spinner and each player will need a piece of paper (or little whiteboard) with the numbers 0 - 9 on it.

This spinner is from my freebie on TPT... click here to download :)

To play, the first person rolls the die/spin. Then, on their whiteboard/paper, they need to cross off the number that goes with it to make 10.

So, if I rolled a 3, I would cross off the 7. Then, the next player then has a turn. The winner is the first person to have all of their numbers crossed off!

I normally play the game in pairs... if the groups get too big it can get a bit tricky. Also, I often start off giving kids a copy of the rainbow facts to refer to, which I take away as they become more fluent with them.

It's such a simple game that doesn't need a lot of prep, but its really effective, and kids love it!

Goodbye laminator :( and some favs

 

We're nearly half way through term 3 now... time is flying! I have had such good intentions to blog in the last couple of weeks, but somehow it just hasn't happened!

The week started off with a bit of a laminator crisis...

 

I let my daughter put in a laminating sheet without watching what she was doing (WRONG move) and a sheet got jammed. It started making all sorts of not-very-good noises and then seized up altogether!

To top it off, I sat down to write this post tonight and my laptop has given up the ghost :( I'm just not having much luck at the moment!

But back to more positive things...I was having a look for different maths resources during the week, and I thought I'd share a couple of my favourites.

This first is my absolute favourite maths book - it's my go-to book for whenever I'm planning or have any questions about maths concepts and how to teach them.

Teaching Primary Mathematics.. (Booker, Bond, Sparrow and Swan)

This book is AMAZING! It's quite pricey (I think I saw it for $115 at a book seller stall the other week) but totally worth it! Written in a really easy to read but comprehensive manner, it covers the concepts that kids need to know, the sequence for learning, common misconceptions and examples of activities too. PERFECT!

 

Another resource that I love to use in the class, are the Targeting Maths Literacy books. There are four sets, each has a big book and 12 (I think) small books to go with it.

 

Here's one set of the small books

 

They're suitable for Reception-2 and cover a range of topics from Number through Measurement and Geometry. I love using the big books with the class as a part of our whole class focus time, but I find both the big and little books are popular with kids when they have free reading time. The little books are also fantastic for small group work - I use them when I have support staff in my room - they can take a book and a couple of kids and focus on a particular strategy or concept.

I would love to hear about some new maths resources....what is your favourite?

Roll, add and colour... an easy dice game

This week's game is a little bit late for Friday game day..... but better late than never! ;)

 

 

 

This game is great for practicing addition, but it can easily be adapted for subtraction or multiplication... and it's so easy to differentiate. To play, you need two players, a couple of dice (0-6 to start with, or 1-10 for those kids who are more confident with their addition), a different coloured pencil each and a photocopy of the game board.

 

Player 1 rolls the dice and then adds the numbers together. they then colour that number of squares on the game board. Player 2 then has a turn and the game continues until all squares are coloured in. The person with the most squares in their colour is the winner!

 

For older kids, I use graph paper, and have them multiply the numbers on the dice - it's a great way to reinforce multiplicative thinking using Arrays.

 

This game is great for early finishers, as a Maths warm up or for those times when you have a spare 10 minutes before the bell goes (not that this happens very often in my class though... we always seem to run over time!)

 

If you'd like to grab a copy of the game board, just click here :)