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!

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 :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday Game Day - The Tens and Ones game

 

 

 

It might be holidays but I've remembered its Friday.... I obviously need a few more weeks holidays! I love it when I forget the day - a sign that I'm truly relaxed and enjoying holidays!

 

Today I thought I'd share a game that was actually taught to me by one of my Prac teachers when I was at uni... it's a game I've played with so many classes since and it's always really popular.

 

 

I call it the Tens and Ones game - not very creative, but it does the trick!

 

The game is played as a whole class, and is great to use as a 'warm up' game with your class at the beginning of you Maths lesson.

 

To start, you will need a pack of cards (Ace=1, picture cards=0) and you'll need to draw the following groups on the board:

 

 

 

The aim of the game is to get one number in each group before getting three strikes. One student takes two cards from the deck of cards and then makes a number from them (for example, if I pulled a 2 and a 4, I could make 24 or 42) and writes it in the correct group.

 

 

 

The next students than takes two cards and does the same, if you can't make a move (the group already has a number in it) a strike is recorded. you continue playing until either all groups are filled (game won!) or you get three strikes (game lost!).

 

 

An easy, fun card game that's great for developing place value concepts as well as strategic thinking :)

 

Which cards games do you like to play with your class?

 

Friday Game Day... I love Maths!

Happy Friday! I can't believe we're nearly half way through the year... only two more weeks until end of term!

 

For today's game, I wanted to share a game that a colleague told me about just the other day, and I thought it sounded really great!

 

It's called 'I love maths' and is a really simple game for practicing fluency in a fun and active way.

 

The game is played in pairs, and it's similar to Rock, Paper Scissors. Each player makes a fist with a hand and shakes their hand three times, as they say 'I....love....Maths!' On the third shake, each player holds out some fingers. The players then have to find the total number of fingers and say the answer out loud as quickly as they can.

 

Here's an example of me playing with my daughter :)

 



Both players shake their fist and say 'I....

....(shake fist again) love.....

.....Maths!' (and hold out some fingers)

For the example above, we called out '3!'.

The game can easily be adjusted to practice other number facts.... you could subtract the smaller number from the larger number, multiply the numbers together, make the smallest fraction possible with the two numbers, make the biggest two digit number... and I'm sure there's many more alternatives!

 

 

Friday Game Day... practicing fluency

 

This week, I had a couple of training days, one of the sessions I went to was about Peter Sullivan's six principles for teaching mathematics... it was an awesome session!

 

One of the principles that the presenter (Matt... I'm not sure of his last name, sorry!) talked about was fluency.... and a great way to develop fluency with number is through short daily tasks that require mental computation or manipulating number.

 

He shared one of Peter's games with us... it was so easy, needed no prep and can be easily differentiated, just the sort of game I love :)

 

So, I thought I'd share it with you too...

 

Students work in pairs, they'll need a piece of paper to share and a pencil each  (we have individual whiteboards for the kids, which I'm planning to use instead).

 

The first person writes down either a 0 or a 1 - the second person can either add on 1 or 2, then the first person has another turn. This continues until one player can write 10 - they are the winner! Super simple, super easy, and you can play 5 or more games in a few minutes. This is really handy for developing fluency because kids need to do the +1/+2 quickly in their head, but also, they'll soon realise that they need to plan ahead and predict moves, which involves even more mental computation and strategy. 

 

 

 

(Spoiler alert..... there's a number quite early on in the sequence that you should try to get because it can guarantee that you'll win..... it's interesting to see which kids pick up on this!)

 

To make the game more difficult, students can play first to 20 or 50, or they could add 3 and 4 or 5 and 10 - any numbers really... there are so many possibilities! It can also be played to practice fractions (first to 5 1/2... adding 1/4 or 1/2) or decimals or even units of measurement (first to 1 metre... adding 5 or 10 cm). I'm really looking forward to trying this with some of the classes I work with... I think the kids will love it!

 

I'd love to hear about how you develop fluency in your classroom too :)

Friday Game Day... with playdough!

I have a love/hate relationship with play dough.... I love using it in my classroom, but I hate making it! Maybe I've just got really weak arms, but I find it SUCH a work out to mix and cook the dough! Finally I've found a recipe that I really like, and it seems a bit easier on the arm or maybe I'm getting stronger? (I can hope right?!) Anyway, the recipe is here.. I love it because it lasts really well - we always run out of dough before it goes bad.

So, for today's game, I'm going to share a variation of the traditional Roll and Draw games, instead using play dough. The great thing about this game is it is so easy to differentiate, you can use it to practice number recognition, two digit addition, doubles, bonds to 10, times tables... the list is endless! It is also really easy to set up, you just need to get the play dough out, grab some dice and you're ready to go!

The game works best (I think) in pairs or groups of three. Each player will need some play dough and the group will need a die to share as well as a game card (or you can write the directions on the board if you'd prefer). 

Click here for a copy of the game cards that I've used. :)

I've used graphics from Ashley Hughes and Scrappin Doodles

This game card only needs a 1-6 die... it's designed to practice number recognition (1-6)

Player one then rolls the two dice and adds the number together. They then find that number on the Playing Card and make that body part for the bug. The next player has a turn and the game continues until someone has made a complete bug... they are the winner!

You can easily change the creature you are making to fit in with your current theme too... a snowman, a face, a farm animal, an alien, a fish... anything will work.

A fun and easy game, which is great to practice a range of skills, and best of all.... kids love it!

I've linked up with Kindergarten Works to share Kindergarten teaching ideas... head on over to find some fantastic teaching ideas especially for the little ones :)

Friday Game Day.... Tower Addition

I hope you've had a great week... I can't believe it's Friday again!

I might have chosen (ok... did choose!) this game because it uses unifix cubes... I bought this cute clip art from Mel at Graphics from the Pond in the sales this week and was looking for an excuse to use them! ;)

This week's game is one that's really handy to reinforce counting and addition skills... It's great to use at the beginning of a lesson as a bit of a warm up.

To play, you just need a die, a heap of colour blocks/counters or unifix cubes and something for kids to write on - I usually give them their little whiteboards to work on. When I've played it with older kids, I've sometimes given them calculators as well so that they can double check their answers.

To start with, everyone takes five unifix cubes (or three, ten etc... Depending on how easy or difficult you want the game to be) and makes their tower. As a class, we then roll the die (1-6 maybe to start with, but you could use a 1-3 or 1-10-depending on how difficult you want the game to be) to allocate each cube a value.

Then each person works out how much their tower is 'worth' by adding the value of all of their cubes... the person with the highest value tower is the winner! I find kids really get into this game... you can also play it where the person with the lowest tower is the winner. Just a hint... make sure all the kids have their towers built before you assign values to the colours... otherwise you'll get some 'strategic' players who purposely choose the high value colours! ;)

A Domino game for Friday Game Day!

Friday Game day again! (Actually it's Saturday but better late than never right?!)

 

A little while ago, I saw an absolute BARGAIN on dominoes... I think they were something like a dollar a pack, so (naturally) I just HAD to get a class set! They are a great addition to Maths Tool kits - there's so many ways they can be used. Today I want to share a really quick little game that's great for practicing number order (and it's really easy to adapt to use for addition/subtraction skills too).

You play this game in pairs, each player taking half a pack of dominoes. The dominoes are placed face down, and at the same time, each player turns over one of their pieces. The person that turns over the piece with the most dots then takes both domino pieces. If both players pieces have the same number of dots, each keep their own and the game continues. 

Players keep on turning over dominoes until one person has all of the pieces... they are the winner! Sometimes I put a timer on and the winner is the person who has the most dominoes when the buzzer rings (especially handy for when you just want a quick 5 minute filler game).

It's a pretty easy game to differentiate too... you could have the person with the least number of dots collecting the dominoes, or ask kids to add the dominoes together and call out the total, or even have kids find the difference between the two halves of the domino.

If you give it a go with your class, I hope they enjoy it :)

Countdown....Guess The Number Game

I am in true holiday mode.... I nearly forgot it was Friday! Don't you love when that happens?!

This game is one that I haven't played with my kids this year.. probably easier for slightly older kids, or at least Receptions who have been at school a little longer than a term! It is fun though and dead simple to set up and play.. you only need pencil and paper! 

I actually play it as a 'warm up' for our Maths lessons, but it works well in pairs too.

The game is called Countdown. To play, one person thinks of a number and writes it down. The other player writes the numbers 1-7 down (this is the number of questions they can ask, so you can adjust the number to alter the difficulty of the game). When we play it as a class on the IWB, I use this template instead of just writing the numbers down...

We 'pop' a balloon every time a question is asked... the aim is to guess the number before all the balloons are gone

Basically, the player who is guessing asks yes/no questions to try and work out which number the other player has written down. Each time a question is asked, a number is crossed off. In a way, it's like hangman, but without the picture and using numbers instead of words!

It's a really great game for getting kids to think strategically, it's worth spending a bit of time talking about the different types of questions you can ask and discussing which type of questions are most 'efficient' and can get you to the answer the quickest. It's also an awesome way to use a whole range of maths language... less than/more than/ in between/factor of....and heaps more!

 

Outdoor games for Friday Game Day!

We have having such amazing weather lately (I LOVE autumn... my favourite time of year!) so I thought today I'd share a couple of outdoor Maths games that I like to play with my class.

Hopscotch is always a great one for numeral recognition, and is one that kids love. I find it works really well for skip counting too...we label the squares 2, 4, 6, 8 etc  (you could use any multiple). A nice, fun and easy way to reinforce how to skip count.

Bean bag toss is another favourite. To play, I simply grab some hoops (or draw circles on the ground with chalk) and write a number in each one. This game is so easy to differentiate, so it's really handy to use when you've got a wide range of abilities in the class. For addition, I give the kids two (or three) bean bags which they throw into the hoops. they then add the numbers together and record the total. To appeal to the little competitors in my class, I get the kids to write the number 2-10on a sheet of paper (you could use any combo that you like) and tell them that the winner is the first person to have all of the numbers crossed off the sheet. For this, I usually get them to work in pairs or threes - they  each take it in turns throwing the two bean bags, adding the total and crossing it off their list.

Lastly, and oldie but a goodie.. 'What's the Time Mr Wolf?'. No doubt you've all played this one... here's how we play it...

One student (Mr Wolf) stands at the end of the courtyard/grass area (wherever you're playing it!) with their back to the class. the class calls out 'What's the time Mr Wolf?', and Mr Wolf answers with a time (ie. 5 o'clock) then the class takes that number of steps (I always get them to count aloud to practice sequencing). this continues until someone reaches Mr Wolf and tags him, OR until Mr Wolf calls out 'Dinnertime!', when he turns around and tries to tag another students before they run back to the starting point. We also play it saying 'one more than.... o'clock' or 'one hour before ... o'clock' (its a good idea to have the teacher or older 'buddy' students as Mr Wolf for these ones!). Another way to play it is to get the kids to skip count their steps out loud (ie. 7 o'clock would be...2, 4, 6, 7).

Which outdoor games do your kids enjoy?

Practicing doubles... Friday Game Day Freebie!

Hi!

My Friday Game Day post is actually on Saturday this week (oops!)... I have been completely out of whack this week after having a four day weekend... not that I'm complaining about it ;)

Today I thought I'd share a fun and easy game that I use to help reinforce the concept of doubles... one of those really important mental computation skills that littlies need.

Here is a free copy of the game boards :)

This game supports doubles to 12, but it would be easy to adjust for doubles to 20, by simply using a 1-10 die and adding the larger doubles numbers to the game board (I've included a blank one in the download in case you'd like to do this).

This game is best played in pairs or maybe threes - any more than that and it gets a bit tricky.

 

Each player will need different colour counters/tiles so they know which marshmallows they have covered. Player 1 rolls the die, doubles the number and then finds a marshmallow with that number on it and covers it. Player 2 then has a turn and so on. If a player can't make a move (because they can't find an uncovered marshmallow with the number they're looking for) they skip their turn. The winner is the person with the most number of marshmallows covered then the board is full.

Its part of my new Dice Fun... 15 games for Kindergarten pack that I'm so excited to have finished... if you'd like to check out the rest of the pack, you can have a squiz here

Have a great weekend... we are having some awesome sunny Autumn weather so I'm off to make the most of it!

 

 

Friday Game Day... Blast off!

 Here's a fun little game that I like to play with my class as a 'warm up' for our Maths lesson.. its a great one to practice writing and sequencing numbers, with a good dose of strategy thrown in too!

We call it.... BLAST OFF!

To play, you just need to draw a rocket on your whiteboard, with some windows on it. The number of windows will determine the complexity of the game, for my little Receptions, I normally use 5 or 6. The aim of the game is to fill all the windows with numbers in sequence before getting three strikes (though if we haven't 'won' the game for a while, I give us some extra strikes to make it easier!) Someone then rolls a 1-10 die, and calls out the number and the class decides on a window to write the number in. 

We have some really great conversations about number order, relative position in a number line, chance and strategy... I find the kids really get into it! If you roll a number, but can't make a move, a strike is recorded (by crossing out a star) - three strikes and you're out.

You could easily differentiate it for older kids by having more windows on the rocket, using two/three dice and making 2/3 digit numbers from the numbers rolled, or adding the numbers together, doubling the number... the list goes on :)

It's a fun, easy game to play, and I find kids really enjoy it...  great for strategic thinking too!

Friday Game Day..... 2D shapes game freebie

It's Friday Game Day!

Here's a little game that I played with my class this week... they really enjoyed it!

It's a 2D shape game that kids play in pairs....
(Click here to download)
 

To play, kids just need a 1-6 die for each pair and a game board and coloured pencils for each player.

Player 1 rolls the die and then finds a shape with that number of sides on the game board, names the shape and traces it. We started off using lead pencils, but we soon worked out that coloured pencils are much better - you can easily see which shapes have been traced at a glance! Player 2 then has a turn and the game continues until one person has all of their shapes traced... they are the winner!

We also played it that if you rolled a 2, you got to roll again (there are no 2 sided shapes on the board) but you could play it tough and say they miss their turn! If a player can't make a move (for example, if they roll a 3 and all the triangles are already traced) they skip their turn too.

My kids LOVED this game... I hope yours do too :)

An easy, fun positional language game!

Wow! I can't believe it's Friday already! I think having a three day weekend always helps the week go faster though ;)

For this week's game, I'm sharing one that I use to develop positional language... it's basically a barrier game with a bit of a shape flavour.

Kids work in pairs for this game, they'll each need a copy of the game board. With slightly older kids, I get them to draw their own grid, but I find with new Receptions, it's just easier to give them one that's already made... I'm sure you understand :)

The game can be made easier/more complex by changing the number of squares in the grid

The kids sit back-to-back, so that they can't see each other's work. One player draws different shapes (or lines) in each of the boxes, and they then need to describe where the shapes are to their partner. The aim of the game is to have two pictures that look the same.... sooo much easier than it sounds! We generally play the game as a whole class (with one person up the front, trying to draw the pictures that we have on the whiteboard) quite a few times before they play it in pairs, just to model the type of language to use and the questions to ask.

To make the game more difficult, I say that kids can't name the shapes either.. they need to describe them, which can be a real challenge!

Once the kids have the hang of it, this is a fun and simple to set up game, great for when you have a few minutes spare at the end of a day as well as a great way to 'warm up' for your Maths lesson. :)

Friday Fun day... Place Value game

This game is one that I learnt from an AWESOME Maths educator, Professor Di Seimon. She has done some amazing work around teaching number, when I've heard her present, I've been in awe of how much she knows about teaching and learning Number... if you ever get the chance, definitely so see her!

This game is designed to reinforce place value. Here's a link to the original game board, that I've used with Yr 2/3s. The great thing about this game is that it can be adapted to any level so easily, and can be used for decimals, fractions, whole numbers... so many things!

The original download is much clearer... I wasn't sure how to upload a clearer image.. sorry!

The game needs two players, two 0-9 dice and a game board each. The aim is to be the first person with a number in each of the boxes. Player 1 rolls the two dice and then makes a number with the two numbers rolled (for example, if I roll a 3 and a 5, I can make 35 or 53) and then chooses a box to write the number in. Player two then has a turn and this continues until one person has all their boxes filled. If you can't make a move, you skip a turn. 

There is so much strategy in this game! Kids need to have a sense of where a number is in relation to 0 and 100 so they can estimate a box to write in, so there is a lot of calcluated guessing!

When I play with game with littler kids, I use a one 1 - 10 die and a simpler board. The concept is still the same, but obviously only working with the numbers 1 - 10. 

At first, we have 9 boxes on the game so that all the numbers 1-9 are written, as they get into the swing of things, we use a game board with less squares so that they need to start making strategic decisions about where to place the numbers that they roll (this can get quite tricky!)

Once they have the gist of this, we use two 1- 9 (or 1 - 10) dice and add them together. For this, we use a 0 - 20 game board - I either give the kids a game board, or I get them to draw one that looks something like this....

This is a great game to play as a part of your lessons, or for kids to play when they have some spare time... I always find it's a really popular one! :)

Friday Game Day... a fun and easy card game

It's Friday again!

Today's game is one that I learnt from the lovely lady I team teach with. It's a really simple card game that you can use to develop a whole range of number skills. It's originally meant to reinforce number recognition, but you can use it for ordering numbers, number bonds, doubles, adding on... the list is endless! It's a really easy game to differentiate, so I love it!

The game is played in small groups, 4 or so is best. You need a pack of cards (minus picture cards, and Ace is worth 1), and one person to be the 'dealer' they deal each player a card (face down) and on the count of three, everyone turns their card face up. The first person to say the number on their card is the winner and collects everyone's cards from the round. This continues until there is only one player left with cards, and they're the winner! Simple but effective and kids LOVE it.

Here's a couple of ways you can modify the game... I'm sure you can think of more ideas too!

Ordering numbers - when all the cards are turned over, you say the card with the highest value.

Number Bonds - when the cards are turned over, say the number that goes with it to make 5/10 etc.

Doubles - Call out double the number on your card

Adding on - Agree on the number you are adding on before each round (or the whole game (for example, 2). When the cards are turned over, each player adds on that number to their card (so if I had a 4 and the number was 2, I would call out 6)

Times tables - choose the table you want to work with (say, 3) and then players call out 3 x the number on their card.

 Great to use for small group work, for working with Buddy Class or with helper in your room!

 If you give this game a try, I'd love to hear about it!

Noughts and Crosses with a twist

Today's game is.......

Noughts and crosses with a twist!

I learnt this game from a lady who has a ton of Maths games and ideas, Sandra Knox. I tried to find a link to her web site but couldn't, if you ever get the chance to go to a training session with her though, jump at it!

It has the same idea as normal noughts and crosses - you have the grid and the aim in to get three in a row but this is a game the whole class can play!

Start by drawing a grid on your board, the larger you make it, the more complex and longer the game. For my Receptions, I usually start with a 4x4 grid. You then label the grid, either with coordinates or with a small number in each box for the younger ones.

This is the format I use for my littlies

I use this one with older kids.. from about Year 2

I divide the class into two teams as they sit on the floor, one team is 'noughts' and the other 'crosses'. Each person in the team takes turns in saying where they would like their nought (or cross) to go, and I draw it on the board for them (great for practicing coordinates and number recognition)

Just a tip- I usually give each team a glue stick or something to pass on so that we know who's turn it is... I learnt this the hard way after getting TOTALLY confused about who was supposed to be having a turn!

Mid -game!

We play the game until the board is filled, and the winner is the team with the most lots of '3 in a row'. At the end of the game, we work as a whole class to find all the '3 in a rows'. I ask kids to tell me where on the board they can see them (using coordinates or numbers) and I circle them. We keep a tally so that we know how many each team has.

Tallying up the score... my class gets very 'enthusiastic' about this!

 

If you have older kids you can make the game more tricky by giving one point for 3 in a rows, 2 points for 4 in a rows and 3 points for 5 in a rows... it can make for a pretty complex and fun game!

So there you go, a game with heaps of Maths in it and one that I find kids love! Thanks Sandra :)