Math Games Club

By student request: we are rotating through our many fun games!  The games played in this class are interactive, involve strategy and a discussion of how our strategy is working or not for us, and are highly engaging.  Each week, we will play one or two familiar games (for the regular students) and will learn a new game.  The more games we learn, the more choices students will have about which games they might like to play.  

****Students are welcome to join at any time!  All of the games are very quick to pick up.

The collection of games I will select from are:
Digit-Place--a clue- based game that this class began with.

1-2-nim--A strategy game in which players take turns and can take one or two circles at a time.  The goal is to be the last player to pick up circles and clear the board.  This leads to rich discussion of strategy, how you can think ahead through moves, and thinking through which moves you can control.  we will revisit this game often and change the rules or the goas and see how our strategy should change.

Blockout--a game that involves estimation, multiplication, addition, and subtraction, and drawing a concrete model of operation.  In this game, students will roll dice to determine grids they must cover on graph paper.  The goal is to cover the most of the board without running out of turns before your opponent.

Broken calculators--this game uses logical problem solving and computation strategies.  In this game, I give the students a "broken" calculator (I simply give them a limited set of calulator keys, such as 1, 7, 3, +, -, /, =)  I then challenge them to come up with a number of answers using only the limited set of keys I gave them.  Multiple solutions may be found, which we be another opportunity for rich discussion and collaboration between students.

Don't Break The Bank!  This game uses strategy and addition.  Students draw a board with spaces for three three-digit numbers.  I roll a die, and we must fill in the spaces on the board and see how close we can get to 999.  Anyone who gets into the thousands has "broken the bank!"

24--in this card game, students must figure out how to use each of four numbers to add, subtract, multiply, or divide their way to 24.

Bowling For Facts--In this game, students will roll a die three times and try to "Knock down" the pins byt using the numbers they got in any order with any operation.  For example, if we have numbered our ten pins 1-10 and have rolled 1, 3, 4, we could knock down several pins by:
1=4-3
2=3-1
3=4-1
4=4x1
5=4+1
6=4+3-1
7=4+3
8=(3-1)x4
9 and 10, I can't figure out.  I could ask my friends, or roll again three more numbers.

SET—a pattern finding games that helps students develop their calculus brains.

Pig—dice games that use addition, multiplication, and probability.  Depending on the level of students, we may do the simpler version with adding only or more complex versions with multiplication.

Battleship—a version of the classic game that uses our grid system.

Depending on the group in each class, I may modify the games or add new ones based on the children's interests, enjoyment, and ability level.