Sunday, September 13, 2015

A Little Number Line Fun

I know this is not a new idea, but my kiddos LOVED this!  On Friday, our given math lesson was to count objects to 5.  My students and I did the fluency activities that were prescribed in the lesson, completed the exit ticket as a "pre-assessment" (which everyone did great with) and moved on.

I gave each partnership a number line and a small bear counter.  Students sat back to back with no peeking.  One partner placed the bear on the number line and the other partner had to figure out what number the bear was on.  This started off a little rocky with students just guessing numbers over and over again, even after a couple demonstrations.  Once I found a partnership asking and answering questions back and forth, I had them do another demonstration.  Things went much better after this demonstration!

Here is an example (bear is on number 7):
Student 1: "Is the bear on 3?"
Student 2: "No, it is higher."
Student 1: "Is the bear on 5?"
Student 2: "No, it is even higher than five."
Student 1: "Is the bear on 10?"
Student 2: "No, it is lower than 10."
Student 1: "Is the bear on 8?"
Student 2: "No, it is one less than 8."
Student 1: "The bear is on 7!"


After a little while, I started hearing students give "number line" type clues such as "it is ____ lower than" or "count up 3 more".  I was floored.  They were getting it!  Was it loud in my room?  You bet it was, but they were learning and having a blast.

This game is going to be added to our math center this week, but students will be facing one another with a barrier rather than back to back because centers can be a little bit loud anyway.

What other fun, simple games do you suggest?  It looks like we are going to be game lovers this year!


5 comments:

  1. What an easy to do, great idea. I will try this this week. Thanks for taking the time to share.

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to comment; I hope your students love it too! Have a great week!

      Amanda

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  2. Ummmm.....I LOVE this!!!!! Thank you!

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    1. Thanks! I think I saw something similar somewhere, but my kiddos love the whole "back to back" thing and are willing to do anything if that "secret" idea is involved!

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  3. Excellent idea! Thanks for sharing!

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