MathStuff

Hi All, Time for a card game? This is a great one for students in Grades 1 - 2, or anyone working on basic addition. Students will use addition, mental math, missing addends, subtraction, and algebraic thinking. The focus of the game is on making ten, a big landmark “friendly” number. Take a regular deck of playing cards and remove all face cards and jokers. This is a good game for anywhere between two and five players. Players take turns picking cards from the deck. When you pick a card you lay it on the table flat in front of you for all to see. As players pick and grow their hand, they try to identify cards that will add up to 10. They can use multiple addends to do this. If you can make ten, you explain to your partners how ("I got a 3 and a 4 and another 3. 3 + 4 + 3 = 10.") and put those cards aside while you give yourself 10 points. Keep playing until the deck is finished. The player with the most points (ways to make ten) wins. ...

Hi All, Did you ever consider the question, HOW DO WE SPEND OUR LIVES? This is a great math project problem that does just that. It's for Grades 3 - 6 and involves Multiplication, Division, Addition, Time, Data Collection, Elapsed Time, and Time Conversions. It can take three or four class periods depending on how you want to pace it, but it begins with a simple idea. We ask students to find out how long it takes them to complete a simple common task, such as brushing their teeth or tying their shoes. Students time themselves, record the information and then share it back with the class. The teacher then asks, if you spend two minutes brushing your teeth each night, how many minutes do you do that in a week? In a month? In a year? In a lifetime? To answer these questions students engage in multiplication, work with time conversions, look carefully at the calendar, and collect data. The project culminates in students creating a cartoon strip ...

Hi All, Here's a mathematical exploration that will literally make kids want to know what a factorial is and how to use it! I know, crazy, right? But, true! I love this one. It is particularly good for a class that is learning about order of operations, so typically 5th or 6th grade, but you can use it all the way through high school because it is just so darn intriguing and fun. You should try it too. It does give your brain a workout, and makes you think flexibly with numbers. The premise is simple. You get four "4's." Using any of six operations; addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, square root, or factorials, write mathematical expressions to represent all the integers from 0 - 25. You may use operations as many times as you want and you may use a variety of operations within an expression. You can also use brackets and parentheses as needed. For example to represent 16, you could write 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 Remember, 4 is the only digit you can use...

Hi All, Here's a great addition, subtraction, probability, mental math, and strategy game for Grades KG - 2. Although many older kids (and adults) like it too. It's adapted from the book, Young Children Reinvent Arithmetic by the brilliant Constance Kamii. This is one of those games that appears simple, but has depth and promotes strategy and mental math. Basically, partners are each given 10 pennies or bingo chips, a pair of dice or number cubes, and their own game board, which gives each partner their own snake. The object of the game is to cover every number on your snake by rolling dice and then choosing to either add or subtract the two resulting numbers to create a sum or difference that you then cover on your board. For example, if I roll a 6 and a 3, I could either add 6 + 3 and cover the 9, or subtract 6 – 3 and cover the 3. If an answer is already covered and the player cannot use that roll effectively to cover anything, ...

Hi All, Ready for another great game? Ready for Fiddle, Faddle, Flop? It's a great game for place value, mental math, and number work. You can play anywhere at any time. All you need is a pencil and paper or board and markers. Tell students that you are thinking of a number. Explain that it has two digits. Invite them to guess the number. You will respond to their guesses by saying one of four words: Fiddle, Faddle, Flop, or Correct. Here is the translation for those words: Fiddle: one of the digits is correct, but is in the wrong place Faddle: one of the digits is correct and in the correct place Flop: none of the digits is correct Correct: both digits are correct For example, if you are thinking of the number 17 and my guess is 68, you would say Flop since none of the digits is correct. On your next guess, if you were to say 76, I would say, Fiddle, because one of the digits is correct, but in the wrong...

Hi All, How about some Algebraic Thinking, Addition, and History? How about some Magic Squares then? I usually begin this lesson by asking if any of the class have ever heard of Ben Franklin. We talk a little bit about him and then I read aloud a very short picture book biography, Ben Franklin and the Magic Squares by Frank Murphy (Random House, 2001). This books talks about Franklin’s life as an inventor and political figure in an appropriate and engaging manner for elementary students. It also tells us about Franklin’s time as a clerk in the Continental Congress. His job was to write down laws or declarations passed by the congress, but much of the time was spent debating so Franklin doodled in the margins of his ledger. He drew cartoons and wrote some notes, but he also drew magic squares, those fun nine box squares where no matter which way you go by rows or columns or diagonals, all of the numbers add up to the same sum. Mag...

Hi All, Prepare to be addicted. MOLF (Multiplication Golf) is here! It's a simple game, but super fun. Great for anyone learning or practicing their multiplication facts as well as anyone practicing multiplication with any kind of numbers. And you get to do some serious column addition too. Attached are pdf's for 1) the Multiplication Golf course map 2) scorecard 3) directions. The only other things you need are dice and a pencil. And maybe a game token to represent the player and move around the board. Something as simple as a button or bottle cap would work. Players begin at the first hole on the course map. They roll two dice, multiply the numbers that come up, and announce the resulting product. If the product meets the criteria listed on the hole, they have successfully put the ball in the hole.  For example, criteria for Hole #1 is that the product must be odd. If you rolled a 3 and a 4, your product is 12. Sorry, that's one stroke on your scorecard. Roll ag...