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

'My House' freebie

 

Hi!

 

I've been working on a resource lately - well, trying to, it's been a pretty busy time in our house with both my little ones hit with gastro :(  I thought I'd share a page from it with you.

 

It's basically a little activity to get students thinking about Number in the context of addresses and house numbers. As a part of History in the new Australian Curriculum, we look at families, so I thought this would be a nice little way to tie in some Number work with that theme.

 

Graphics c www.KPMdoodles.com

If you'd like a copy, just click here :)

 

I'll be back with a game for Friday Game Day tomorrow (hopefully!)... have a great end of the week :)

 

 

 

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!

 

Race to Ten... a Classroom Freebie

 
Hi :)

Today I wanted to share a game that I have made to play with my kids next term. Some of the older ones have got a great understanding of trusting the count and are doing a good job at subitising, so I want work on the idea of counting on. 

I've linked up with Classroom Freebies to share this game...

This little game using a ten frame is designed to get kids thinking about counting on (and counting backwards) using the numbers 1 - 10.

Click here for a copy of the game:)

Kids work in pairs for this game, sharing a game board between them. The aim is to be the first person with ten counters on their ten frame. Players take it in turns to spin the spinner and then add or remove counters from their ten frame, depending on what they spin. As they're playing, I'm going to ask my kids to say the maths sum that they're making with their counters. For example, if I already had 5 counters on, and I spun a +2, I would say '5, 6, 7 and and two more is 7'. You could also get kids to record their sums on paper as a bit of an extra challenge.

 I'd love to hear about the maths games you play with your class to reinforce Maths skills... or if you try this with your kids, I'd love to hear how it goes :)

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!

A free Eggy Maths Game :)

It's hard to believe that Easter is just around the corner....

This week will be an extra busy one, a four day week PLUS we have swimming!

We are looking at Chickens and eggs for the last three weeks of term, partly because it's Easter, but also because its our turn to feed the school chooks next week so we are learning about all things 'chickenish'!

I thought I'd quickly share a little Maths game we are going to be using this week, it's called Egg Shake. I wanted to do something with egg cartons for Maths this week, so I hit Pinterest and found lots of great examples of this little game.

I've included a copy of the carton cover and numbers that I used, just click here if you would like a copy :)

To play, students work in pairs or small groups. The first player puts the chick in the carton and gives it a shake, then opens up the carton to see which number the chick has landed on. They then say this number aloud and use the tongs to pick up that number of 'eggs' (cotton wool/pom-poms) and put them in their basket. The next player then has a turn. The first player to have their basket full is the winner!

I played the game with my four and a half year old and she loved it! Hopefully my class does too :)

To differentiate the game for those kids who already recognise the numbers to 12 and can count collections, I'm going to ask them to take 2 more than the number they have (ie. if the  chick lands in 4, they take 6 'eggs'), so that they are practicing counting on. You could also pop two chicks in and ask them to add the numbers together or subtract the smallest from the largest. You could also ask them to double the number or the number that goes with it to make 12... the possibilities are endless! 

Have you played this game with your class before? I'd love to hear how you used it :)

Pancake Day

I thought I'd write a quick post to share a little Maths activity that we used for Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday). I know.... not so useful for this year, but I thought I'd share it in case you'd like to keep it for next year :) I need to get better at posting early so that I'm not sharing things after the fact :)

There are two sheets so that you can differentiate the activity for the kiddos in you class, using the same equipment. I'm a  big fan of differentiating using similar activities, as I think its easier and more effective for everyone involved! It means I'm not setting up too many different activities/using heaps of resources, but most importantly, I don't need to have rigid groups. We start our lessons with whole group work on the floor, and if we're all doing similar tasks, it's easy to swap kids between activities depending on how they go in the whole group work, or how they go when they start the activity.

Anyway, back to the activities....

The first page is for practicing writing and representing numbers to 10. Each child just needs a die/spinner (we use 0 - 9 dice) and a copy of the worksheet. They simply roll the die and then draw that number of strawberries on the pancake (or they could do banana pieces/choc chips etc... whatever topping they like) and write the numeral in the box below.

The second sheet is useful for practicing decomposing numbers. Just get your kids to roll the dice and write the number in the squiggly box. They then take that number of counters/blocks ('strawberries') and share them between the two pancakes. They can then draw how many strawberries on each side and write the numerals in the boxes below.

If you have any kids that are up to it, you could also ask them to write an equation for each.

If you'd like a copy, you can download it here

I hope you and your class are having a great week :)

Humpty Dumpty Maths

Hi :)

Just a quick post tonight... I wanted to share an activity that I'm using with my class this week. For the first few weeks back, we are looking at Nursery Rhymes - one of those is Humpty Dumpty. I thought I'd quickly share a 1 - 10 Maths activity that we'll be doing, you can download it here

I'll print a copy for each of my kids and then they can cut out the Humpty Dumpty, match it with the correct wall and then glue the pairs in order on a large piece of A3 paper. This way they can take their work home to share with their parents... I find that especially in the first week or so, kids want to take everything home to share with their family! (I love how keen they are!)

We've got quite a few Humpty Dumpty activities to do, so later in the week I'll post some pictures with some pics of our work :)

I hope you're all having a lovely week, my thoughts go especially to those of you in Queensland and New South Wales who are caught up in the terrible floods - I hope you are keeping safe and well.

A few easy Maths activities and a freebie :)

Well, there are two days left of holidays... staff at my school head back on Thursday though my mind is already well and truly at school!

I'll be teaching Receptions again this year (love it!) and I'll have a combination of brand newies and kids who have already been at school for a term or two. I've been getting some Maths games organised so lots of laminating, cutting and sorting.... my hands are already sore! Our Reception classes are quite small to start with, so its a perfect time to teach kids how to play games that they'll be using throughout the year. It also means I can get stuck into the formative assessment...  I learn so much about what the kids know just from watching them playing.

 Because there we quite a range of abilities, I want to have simple games that can be easily differentiated for the kids' ability levels. I love it if I can use the same equipment with all (or most) of the class and just tweak the activity to suit the individual... so much easier than setting up ten different activities!

 I thought I'd share a couple of simple Maths games/activities to do with number that I'm planning to use with the kiddos in the first days back at school....

So... here are a couple of the activities that I've organised :)

Ice Cream Scoop

This simple matching activity is great for start of the year. Simply match the ten frame with the numeral and you have your ice cream!

Each kiddo will have a with a laminated copy of 1 - 10 Ten frame strip as a reference on their desk, so they can use this as support if needed.

For those kids who have been at school for a while and are confident with 

1 - 10, I will use the same cards, but ask them to make a number using 2 scoops (so simple addition to 10 with two addends) or even three scoops (3 addends). As for those kids who are fine with this, I'll ask them to show me all the different ways they can make 10 (using the 10 cone) or, use the blank cone to make a larger amount.

This next activity was Pinterest inspired - I saw the Lego blocks being used to make words for spelling and I thought I'd adjust it for Maths!

Lego Maths

Again, easy to differentiate... you could do skip counting, using larger numbers, counting backwards... ideas are endless!

Roll and Colour

And finally, a Roll and Colour game - two versions, one for practicing 1 - 10 (or 1 - 6 if you use a 1 - 6 die) and one for doubles.

You can download a copy of Roll and Colour games here, I have included an Australian and US version, with 'colour' spelt differently :)

I hope you find these useful, if you're heading back to school later on in the week, I hope you have a lovely last few days of summer holidays!

 

Subitising Game

Hello again!

I was browsing pinterest the other day (as I tend to do - a lot!) and I found this nifty idea that got me thinking. It is from Mrs T's First Grade Class and is a really simple but effective and fun way that your kiddies can practice  subitising.

Subitising is an essential skill for developing number sense, we do so much of it in my class so I am always on the look out for new ways to practice these skills!
 

To play, you need two players. a game board and tiles/counters to cover each of the subitising patterns on the board. Once the board is covered with tiles, player 1 points to a tile and player 2 lifts the tile for one second. Player one then has to say how many dots they saw. If they get it correct, they keep the tile, if not the tile is replaced. Player 2 then has a turn. this continues until all tiles are removed, the winner is the person with the  most tiles at the end of the game.

You can find the link to the original game board here

This is the simpler copy that I made for my Receptions

What a fun and easy way for kids to practice subitising! I'm planning on adding this game to the list of activities that kids can play when they get to school, before the bell goes. I think it will be a winner!

I'm teaching Reception this year, so I think that many of the kids in my class will find the patterns on the original board too difficult, so I have made a board game that uses patterns up to 5 dots.   

Here is the simpler version (subitising to 5) that I have made for my class. 

I hope you find these games useful! Once again, thanks to Mrs T for the great idea :)