Maths game to improve four operations understanding from Michael Ymer

Thanks again to Michael Ymer for another great maths warm up game.

10 in a row- Choosing and using operations

A game suitable for students from Prep to Year 6.

Children play game in pairs. All picture cards removed leaving numbers 1 – 10.

Place 10 cards face up in a row. The remainder of the deck kept together face down. Students take it in turn rolling a ten sided dice [ Can use a six sided dice ]. Using the number that is displayed the student is challenged to use combinations of cards to equal the number. Cards used to make the answer are collected and kept by each student and then replaced from the deck. The game continues until all cards have been used. Young children will use addition / subtraction to make answers using two cards. Older or more able students can use any combination of operations, decimals, negative numbers, fractions, order of operations etc and use up to five cards. Students need to articulate how they make the answer, trying to gather more cards than their partner.

Variations

Use six sided dice. Offer counters that can be added to total collection of cards at end of game for using operations and signs other than addition or subtraction.

Roll two dice making a two digit number as the target.

Number Sense Warm Up Game - Odd or Even from Michael Ymer

This is a great game to play for about 10 minutes at the beginning of your next maths lesson from the math to teach students to read numbers and identify odd and even numbers guru himself Michael Ymer.  It is suitable for students from Prep to Year 6.

Two students place a deck of cards in front of them face down. Kings, Jacks, Tens and Jokers  removed. The Queens represent zero and the Aces represent one. Students take it in turns taking one card at a time. Before they flip it over and read out the number they guess whether or not it is odd or even. [Children can draft a sheet with odd numbers on one side and even numbers on the other side and place a counter on their guess before flipping the card. This stops arguments about what was and wasn’t said.] If the child guesses correctly he/she keeps the card. If he guessed incorrectly the card is given to his/her partner Keep playing until the cards have all been used. The student with the most cards wins that game. Cards are shuffled and a new game begins.

Teachers may wish to assess a student’s ability to read numbers by asking him/her to press a number on the calculator and read it. If successful press another and so on. This will tell you if a child can read 2, 3, or more digit numbers and can help pair students appropriately. Allow children to play game up to one digit further than they can read so that learning can be extended.

Variations

Play the game with more than one card. The focus is not identifying odd and even numbers as children read larger numbers. The focus is correctly reading and saying 2,3,4,5 etc digit numbers.