The two games partners played today are the following:
- What Makes Ten?
- In this game partners use a game board and a deck of cards 0-10 to practice with pairs of numbers that add to ten. Partners take turns flipping over a card and then finding its "pair" on the gameboard. The "pair" is the number that must be added to the card in order for the two numbers to equal 10. Once they find that number, they move their counter to that spot. Partners take turns drawing cards and moving their counters until one of them lands on the final spot! This is a great game for learning the pairs of numbers that make 10.
- Top-It
- This is a game that students have played already this year. Partners use a deck of cards 0-20. Each partner draws one card and then they compare them. The player with the higher card wins and gets to take both cards. Play continues in this way until the deck of cards is gone. At that time players count the total number of cards they have collected and the player with the most is the winner. If players both draw the same card at any time resulting in a tie, they simply each flip a new card and the higher card from that round takes all four of the cards.
- Variations of this game:
- Addition top-it: Students draw two cards on each turn instead of one and they add them together. The player with the higher total wins all four cards. Play resumes with the same rules as the original version.
- Subtraction top-it: Students draw two cards on each turn instead of one and they subtract the lower number from the higher number. The player with the higher number total wins all four cards. Play resumes with the same rules as the original version.
This week in math overall we have been working on solving addition and subtraction problems with our unknown information in various places in the number sentence. For example, we are generally used to seeing problems such as:
2 + 3 = ____In this problem above, the ____ is the number we are trying to find. However, using this same concept but moving the unknown, adds a bit of a challenge for first grade students. They will begin seeing more problems such as these:
____ + 4 = 7
3 - ____ = 2Not only will students begin to see number sentences written this way that they will need to solve, but they will also have to learn how to write similar number sentences based on number stories (or word problems). Here is an example:
Mary had 3 marbles in her pocket. She found some more marbles in her bag. Now she had 7 marbles total. How many marbles did she find in her bag?In this number story students must realize that the information they are missing is not the total, or sum of the two numbers. Although that will be many students first instinct. To help visualize this it is best to write out a number sentence. A number sentence for this number story (word problem) would be as follows:
3 + ____ = 7Students must ask themselves, "3 plus what will give me 7?"
**If you work with your child on math problems at home please consider practicing math problems in these ways. Use variation in the location of the unknown information both in number sentences and in number stories. This is an important application and will help students may attention to details and wording within number stories themselves.
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