Math War for Simultaneous Equations

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Just updated my blog post Math Game: War with Special Decks to add a game I missed the first time around:

Math War is the most worksheety of all the math games I play with kids. But you can add a level of choice by playing the Trumps version.

Math War Trumps: Instead of playing for the highest sum, as in Julie’s original game, have each player draw 3 cards. The player whose turn it is first names “X” or “Y” as trump, then all players lay down a card. Highest trump value wins the skirmish.

Variation: Let the player naming trump also decide whether the highest or lowest value will win.

For more great math games, visit My Best (Free) Math Games for All Ages.

 
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“Math War for Simultaneous Equations” copyright © 2022 by Denise Gaskins. “Red playing cards” photo by José Pablo Iglesias via Unsplash.com.

Playful Math Carnival #154: The Math Journaling Edition

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Welcome to the 154th edition of the Playful Math Education Blog Carnival — a smorgasbord of delectable tidbits of mathy fun. It’s like a free online magazine devoted to learning, teaching, and playing around with math from preschool to high school.

Bookmark this post, so you can take your time browsing.

There’s so much playful math to enjoy!

By tradition, we start the carnival with a puzzle/activity in honor of our 154th edition. But if you’d rather jump straight to our featured blog posts, click here to see the Table of Contents.

Try This Puzzle/Activity

Since 154 is a nonagonal number, I think you might enjoy visiting some of my old “Adventures of Alexandria Jones” posts about figurate numbers:

And then try this math journaling prompt: Build or draw your own nonagonal numbers — numbers built from 9-sided polygons.

How many nonagonal numbers can you find? What do you notice? Does it make you wonder?

Click here for all the mathy goodness!

How To Respond to Your Child’s Math Writing

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

In previous posts, I encouraged parents, homeschoolers, and teachers to explore the world of math and introduced one of my favorite learning tools, the math journal. Then I shared several of my favorite types of journaling prompts to get your kids started writing about math.

Math journal prompts offer a wide range of options for students to explore. Most of the prompts do not have a “right” or “wrong” answer. Our goal is to root around in some small corner of the world of math, to lift a stone and peek underneath it, just to see what we can find.

The idea that being good at math means finding the right answers is a huge myth. Of course, many problems in math do have a single right answer. But even for those problems, the answer is not the real math of the problem.

Math is all about thinking.

It’s like taking a road trip. You may have a destination, but there are many paths you could take to get there. Different students may take different paths — they may think about the problem in different ways.

It’s this reasoning that is the real math, and the right answer is just a side effect of reasoning well.

Continue reading How To Respond to Your Child’s Math Writing

5 Ways To Enrich Your Student’s Experience of Math

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

In previous posts, I encouraged parents, homeschoolers, and teachers to explore the world of math and introduced one of my favorite learning tools, the math journal.

But you may be wondering, what can my students do with their journal? How do I find good math prompts?

Here are five different ways your children can explore math through writing, classified by the type of reasoning involved.

#1: Game Prompts

Ask your children to play a number or strategy game and then write about it.

Game prompts break through the idea that math is dull and boring. They help students develop a positive attitude toward math while practicing their number skills or strategic thinking.

Continue reading 5 Ways To Enrich Your Student’s Experience of Math

Why Math Game Monday?

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Learn a new game with Math Game Monday

There’s a new Math Game Monday this week.

Have your kids tried it yet?

This week’s game is one of my favorites for early elementary grades, a logic game that makes children think about numbers and strategy.

Or, if you’re reading this post later and missed that one, there’s another great new game this week for you to play.

Check it out:

Visit Math Game Monday

Continue reading Why Math Game Monday?

What Is a Math Journal?

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

In my previous post, I encouraged parents, homeschoolers, and teachers to think of math as a nature walk through an infinite world of wonder.

A math journal is a record of your child’s journey through this world of mathematics.

In a math journal, children explore their own concepts about numbers, shapes, and patterns through drawing or writing in response to a question. Journaling teaches them to see with mathematical eyes — not just to remember what we adults tell them, but to create their own math.

Journaling brings math back into the liberal arts. It makes abstract ideas accessible and stretches children’s understanding, building math fluency and creating a solid foundation for future learning.

Continue reading What Is a Math Journal?

How Will You Celebrate this Epic Twosday?

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Tomorrow is Tuesday 2/22/22 (or 22/2/22, if you prefer). What a wonderfully epic Twosday!

Here’s a puzzle your family or class may enjoy…

The “All 2s” Challenge

Use only the digit 2, and try to use as few of them as you can for each calculation. You may use any math operations you know.

For example:
0 = 2 − 2
8 = 2 + 2 + 2 + 2

  • Can you find a way to make 8 using fewer than four 2s?
  • What other numbers can you make?
  • Can you calculate all the numbers from 1–20? 1–100?

Putting 2 in Perspective

You might enjoy practicing your math art skills with this 2-digit challenge from Steve Wyborney.

How many blocks make the digit 2? How did you count them?

Did You Get Your Puzzle Calendar?

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Earlier this week, I sent out my last Playful Math Newsletter to email subscribers.

Most months, my newsletter includes tips and activity ideas for playing math with your kids. But from time to time, I give away a free sample of whatever I’ve been working on — an early draft of something that will eventually show up in one of my books or printable activity guides.

This month’s gift was a Pentomino Puzzle Calendar, a daily adventure in spatial reasoning.

(If you’re a subscriber, be sure to check your inbox!)

For those who haven’t signed up yet, follow this link for more information:

Join Our Playful Math Email Newsletter

Advent Math Activity Calendars

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Once again, the delightful Nrich Maths website offers a seasonal selection of activities to encourage your children’s (and your own!) mathematical creativity.

Click the images below to visit the corresponding December Math Calendar pages.

For Primary Students

Here are twenty-four activities for elementary and middle school, one for each day in December during the run-up to Christmas.

2021 Primary Advent Calendar

When you get to the Nrich website, click a number to go to that day’s math.

For Secondary Students

Here are twenty-four favorite activities for middle and high school, one for each day in December in the run-up to Christmas.

2021 Secondary Advent Calendar

When you get to the Nrich website, click a number to go to that day’s math.

More Holiday Math

I encourage you also to explore my HUGE holiday math post:

Or check out these pages for more ideas:

Have fun playing math with your kids!

Playful Math Journaling: Try It for Yourself

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Math journaling helps students enjoy the adventure of learning math through playful exploration.

In a math journal, children explore their own ideas about numbers, shapes, and patterns through drawing or writing in response to a question. Journaling teaches them to see with mathematical eyes. Not just to remember what we adults tell them, but to create their own math.

All they need is a piece of paper, a pencil, and a good prompt to launch their mathematical journey.

Give It a Try

You can launch your family’s math journaling adventure today. Download the free 16-page printable (pdf) Math Journaling Sampler, which includes:

  • “Five Types of Journaling Prompts,” a short excerpt with example prompts from my new book 312 Things To Do with a Math Journal
  • Four sample task cards from the accompanying series of printable Math Prompt Task Card books
  • And a few pages from my Adventurous Student Journals (also known as the Math Rebel journals) to get kids writing

Click here for the Math Journaling Sampler

Back the Kickstarter

And if you like what you see, I’d love to have your support for my Playful Math Journaling Kickstarter project. Check it out: