Math Game Monday: Ben Orlin’s Row Call

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

“Ben Orlin’s Row Call” is free on this website for one month only. It’s an excerpt from 312 Things To Do with a Math Journal, available as an ebook at my bookstore (Thank you for cutting out the middleman!) and in ebook or paperback through many online retailers. Read more about my playful math books here.

Many parents remember struggling to learn math. We hope to provide a better experience for our children.

And one of the best ways for children to enjoy learning is through hands-on play.

This game is simple to learn, allowing kids to focus on their strategic thinking. Then ask your students to invent their own tic-tac-toe variation.

Ben Orlin’s Row Call

Math Concepts: Logic and strategic thinking.

Players: only two.

Equipment: pen and paper.

Continue reading Math Game Monday: Ben Orlin’s Row Call

Thinking Thursday: Perimeter Puzzle 2

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

“Perimeter Puzzle 2” is an excerpt from Task Cards Book #3, available as a digital printable activity guide at my bookstore. Read more about my playful math books here.

Do you want your children to develop the ability to reason creatively and figure out things on their own?

Help kids practice slowing down and taking the time to fully comprehend a math topic or problem-solving situation with these classic tools of learning: See. Wonder. Create.

See: Look carefully at the details of the numbers, shapes, or patterns you see. What are their attributes? How do they relate to each other? Also notice the details of your own mathematical thinking. How do you respond to a tough problem? Which responses are most helpful? Where did you get confused, or what makes you feel discouraged?

Wonder: Ask the journalist’s questions: who, what, where, when, why, and how? Who might need to know about this topic? Where might we see it in the real world? When would things happen this way? What other way might they happen? Why? What if we changed the situation? How might we change it? What would happen then? How might we figure it out?

Create: Create a description, summary, or explanation of what you learned. Make your own related math puzzle, problem, art, poetry, story, game, etc. Or create something totally unrelated, whatever idea may have sparked in your mind.

Math journaling may seem to focus on this third tool, creation. But even with artistic design prompts, we need the first two tools because they lay a solid groundwork to support the child’s imagination.

Continue reading Thinking Thursday: Perimeter Puzzle 2

Math Game Monday: Cross-Twenties

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

“Cross-Twenties” is free on this website for one month only. It’s an excerpt from Addition & Subtraction: Math Games for Elementary Students, available as an ebook at my bookstore (Thank you for cutting out the middleman!) and in ebook or paperback through many online retailers. Read more about my playful math books here.

Many parents remember struggling to learn math. We hope to provide a better experience for our children.

And one of the best ways for children to enjoy learning is through hands-on play.

This game gives young children practice adding numbers within twenty. And it’s great strategic fun for all ages!

Cross-Twenties

Math Concepts: addition to twenty, thinking ahead.

Players: two or more.

Equipment: two decks of playing cards (face cards removed), six tokens per player.

Continue reading Math Game Monday: Cross-Twenties

Thinking Thursday: R.C. Buck

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

“Quotation from R.C. Buck” is an excerpt from The Great Quotations Bundle: 104 Ways to Get Students Writing about Education and Life, available as a digital printable activity guide at my bookstore. Read more about my playful math books here.

Do you want your children to develop the ability to reason creatively and figure out things on their own?

Help kids practice slowing down and taking the time to fully comprehend a math topic or problem-solving situation with these classic tools of learning: See. Wonder. Create.

See: Look carefully at the details of the numbers, shapes, or patterns you see. What are their attributes? How do they relate to each other? Also notice the details of your own mathematical thinking. How do you respond to a tough problem? Which responses are most helpful? Where did you get confused, or what makes you feel discouraged?

Wonder: Ask the journalist’s questions: who, what, where, when, why, and how? Who might need to know about this topic? Where might we see it in the real world? When would things happen this way? What other way might they happen? Why? What if we changed the situation? How might we change it? What would happen then? How might we figure it out?

Create: Create a description, summary, or explanation of what you learned. Make your own related math puzzle, problem, art, poetry, story, game, etc. Or create something totally unrelated, whatever idea may have sparked in your mind.

Math journaling may seem to focus on this third tool, creation. But even with artistic design prompts, we need the first two tools because they lay a solid groundwork to support the child’s imagination.

Continue reading Thinking Thursday: R.C. Buck

Math Game Monday: Distributive Dice

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

“Distributive Dice” is free on this website for one week only. It’s an excerpt from Multiplication & Fractions: Math Games for Tough Topics, available as an ebook at my bookstore (Thank you for cutting out the middleman!) and in ebook or paperback through many online retailers. Read more about my playful math books here.

Many parents remember struggling to learn math. We hope to provide a better experience for our children.

And one of the best ways for children to enjoy learning is through hands-on play.

This game helps children practice math facts and understand the area model of multiplication. And it’s great for building multi-step mental math skills.

Distributive Dice

Math Concepts: addition, subtraction, multiplication, distributive property, rectangular area, multistep mental math.

Players: two to four.

Equipment: graph paper (1 cm squares for two players, or 1/4 inch squares for more) or the Galactic Conquest game board, three six-sided dice, colored markers.

Continue reading Math Game Monday: Distributive Dice

Thinking Thursday: Whatever the Weather

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

“Whatever the Weather” is an excerpt from Math Journal Task Cards Mega-Bundle: 312 Ways To Play with Math, available as a digital printable activity guide at my bookstore. Read more about my playful math books here.

Do you want your children to develop the ability to reason creatively and figure out things on their own?

Help kids practice slowing down and taking the time to fully comprehend a math topic or problem-solving situation with these classic tools of learning: See. Wonder. Create.

See: Look carefully at the details of the numbers, shapes, or patterns you see. What are their attributes? How do they relate to each other? Also notice the details of your own mathematical thinking. How do you respond to a tough problem? Which responses are most helpful? Where did you get confused, or what makes you feel discouraged?

Wonder: Ask the journalist’s questions: who, what, where, when, why, and how? Who might need to know about this topic? Where might we see it in the real world? When would things happen this way? What other way might they happen? Why? What if we changed the situation? How might we change it? What would happen then? How might we figure it out?

Create: Create a description, summary, or explanation of what you learned. Make your own related math puzzle, problem, art, poetry, story, game, etc. Or create something totally unrelated, whatever idea may have sparked in your mind.

Math journaling may seem to focus on this third tool, creation. But even with artistic design prompts, we need the first two tools because they lay a solid groundwork to support the child’s imagination.

Continue reading Thinking Thursday: Whatever the Weather

Math Game Monday: Integer Solitaire

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

“Integer Solitaire” is free on this website for one week only. It’s an excerpt from Prealgebra & Geometry: Math Games for Middle School, available as an ebook at my bookstore (Thank you for cutting out the middleman!) and in ebook or paperback through many online retailers. Read more about my playful math books here.

Many parents remember struggling to learn math. We hope to provide a better experience for our children.

And one of the best ways for children to enjoy learning is through hands-on play.

This game gives upper-elementary and middle school children plenty of practice adding and subtracting integers. It’s a fun challenge for older students and adults, too!

Integer Solitaire

Math Concepts: integer addition and subtraction.

Players: one or more (a cooperative game).

Equipment: playing cards, large sheet of poster board (optional).

Continue reading Math Game Monday: Integer Solitaire

Thinking Thursday: Money

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Write your prompt response in style with Odyssey: The Adventure of Learning, available as a digital printable journal at my bookstore (Thank you for cutting out the middleman!) and in paperback through your local Amazon store. Read more about my playful math books here.

Do you want your children to develop the ability to reason creatively and figure out things on their own?

Help kids practice slowing down and taking the time to fully comprehend a math topic or problem-solving situation with these classic tools of learning: See. Wonder. Create.

See: Look carefully at the details of the numbers, shapes, or patterns you see. What are their attributes? How do they relate to each other? Also notice the details of your own mathematical thinking. How do you respond to a tough problem? Which responses are most helpful? Where did you get confused, or what makes you feel discouraged?

Wonder: Ask the journalist’s questions: who, what, where, when, why, and how? Who might need to know about this topic? Where might we see it in the real world? When would things happen this way? What other way might they happen? Why? What if we changed the situation? How might we change it? What would happen then? How might we figure it out?

Create: Create a description, summary, or explanation of what you learned. Make your own related math puzzle, problem, art, poetry, story, game, etc. Or create something totally unrelated, whatever idea may have sparked in your mind.

Math journaling may seem to focus on this third tool, creation. But even with artistic design prompts, we need the first two tools because they lay a solid groundwork to support the child’s imagination.

Continue reading Thinking Thursday: Money

Math Game Monday: Michigan (Boodle)

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

“Michigan (Boodle)” is free on this website for one week only. It’s an excerpt from Math You Can Play Combo: Number Games for Young Learners, available as an ebook at my bookstore (Thank you for cutting out the middleman!) and in ebook or paperback through many online retailers. Read more about my playful math books here.

Many parents remember struggling to learn math. We hope to provide a better experience for our children.

And one of the best ways for children to enjoy learning is through hands-on play.

This game reinforces numerical order and helps children get acquainted with a standard deck of playing cards. But mostly, it’s just plain family fun!

Michigan (Boodle)

Math Concepts: numerical order, sorting by attribute (card suits), standard rank of playing cards (aces high), thinking ahead.

Players: three or more, up to as many as fit around your table.

Equipment: one complete deck of cards (including face cards), plus four boodle cards from a second deck; small prizes to go on the boodle cards. Provide a card holder for young children.

Continue reading Math Game Monday: Michigan (Boodle)

Thinking Thursday: Ivan Moscovich’s Grasshopper

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

“Ivan Moscovich’s Grasshopper” is an excerpt from Task Cards Book #5, available as a digital printable activity guide at my bookstore. Read more about my playful math books here.

Do you want your children to develop the ability to reason creatively and figure out things on their own?

Help kids practice slowing down and taking the time to fully comprehend a math topic or problem-solving situation with these classic tools of learning: See. Wonder. Create.

See: Look carefully at the details of the numbers, shapes, or patterns you see. What are their attributes? How do they relate to each other? Also notice the details of your own mathematical thinking. How do you respond to a tough problem? Which responses are most helpful? Where did you get confused, or what makes you feel discouraged?

Wonder: Ask the journalist’s questions: who, what, where, when, why, and how? Who might need to know about this topic? Where might we see it in the real world? When would things happen this way? What other way might they happen? Why? What if we changed the situation? How might we change it? What would happen then? How might we figure it out?

Create: Create a description, summary, or explanation of what you learned. Make your own related math puzzle, problem, art, poetry, story, game, etc. Or create something totally unrelated, whatever idea may have sparked in your mind.

Math journaling may seem to focus on this third tool, creation. But even with artistic design prompts, we need the first two tools because they lay a solid groundwork to support the child’s imagination.

Continue reading Thinking Thursday: Ivan Moscovich’s Grasshopper