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Research shows that the best way to commit facts to memory is through common strategies and games. Dice games and card games have the benefit of providing a low stress level way to learn. Additionally, while learning, you also experience quality family time!
Grades: K-2
Dice games -
Top It
Addition Top It
Players roll two dice and add the dots. The player with the highest number (sum) gets a point. Play to a predetermined amount of points. (ex. 20 points) Keep track of points with counters or on scrap paper.
*Play with more dice. Challenge players to add three or four dice together on each turn
Subtraction Top It
Players roll two dice and subtract the smaller die from the larger die. The player with the smaller difference gets a point. Play to a predetermined amount of points. (ex. 20 points) Keep track of points with counters or on scrap paper.
*Play with three dice and add two of the dice and subtract the third from the total.
Thirty-Six
The goal of this game is to get as close to 36, but not go over.
Each player will roll the die several times and add the numbers together. They will continue to roll the dice and add to their total. The player’s turn ends when they go over 36 or when they decide to stop. The player who gets 36 points or closer than the rest of the players, wins the round scoring a point,
Play ten rounds. The player with the most points is the overall winner.
*You can change the target number and/or roll two dice at a time to change up the game's difficulty.
Beat That!
Decide how many rounds you will play. Each player takes a turn rolling the dice If playing with younger kids, stick with 2 dice. If playing with older kids, you can increase up to 4 or 5 dice.
Once the dice have been rolled, the player must calculate the highest possible number he or she can form from the numbers rolled. For example, if the player throws a 5 and a 2, his or her highest score would be 52. If a player throws a 2, 4, and 6, the highest score would be 642. The player who scores the highest combination wins the round. If 2 or more players have the same score, they roll again to decide who the winner of that round is
The player with the most wins once the set number of rounds have been played is the winner.
Bump
You will need a piece of paper and something to use as objects to cover numbers (coins, legos, cereal, Skittles….etc.) On the paper write the numbers 2-12 on the paper in random spots. First player rolls two dice and add the numbers together. Find that number on the board and cover. (Each player uses a different set of objects to cover the numbers.) The next player rolls and does the same thing. If they roll the same number, they can BUMP off the other player and take that number. Play continues until all numbers are covered. Whoever covered the most numbers wins!
*Make it more challenging by using 3 dice and writing the numbers 3-18 on the paper.
Card games -
I Spy
To play this game, you will lay out all the cards in a grid. Then one player will go first and say something like, “I spy two cards that make the sum 12.” The other player will try to find any two cards that make the sum of twelve and remove them from the grid. Then, it’s their turn to find a sum! Students keep playing until all the cards have been removed.
Ways to differentiate this game:
Use 3 addends “I spy 3 cards that make the sum ___”
Use subtraction. “I spy 3 cards that make the difference ___”
Use multiplication “I spy two numbers with a product of ___”
Use number identification for kinder students! “I spy the number 8.”
Plus 1, Minus 1
To play the game, remove all the kings, queens, jacks, and jokers from the deck. Shuffle the cards and lay the pile face down.
This game can be played by one or two players.
Decide ahead of time whether you will be playing Plus 1 or Minus 1.
Each player takes turns flipping over the top card on the deck and quickly adding 1 to that number (for Plus 1) or subtracting 1 (for Minus 1). If they answer correctly, they can keep the card.
Top It
This is a great game to practice a variety of math skills.
First shuffle a deck of cards. You can keep in the face cards and make them all worth 10, Aces worth 1 or 11 (you can set this rule).
Place the deck of cards face down in the center. Each player takes two cards and adds them up. The player with the largest sum (total) keeps all the cards. If they have the same sum, play the next two cards and whoever has the largest sum takes all the cards.
When all cards have been used, count up the number of cards each player has. The highest total wins!
You can make this into Subtraction Top It by subtracting the lowest card from the highest card.
Make Ten
Remove the face cards from a deck of playing cards and place the deck, face down on the table. Each player chooses 5 cards and places the cards in front of him. The first player uses the 5 cards to create as many equations as he can in which the sum equals ten. For example, If I have 9, 9, 3, 2, 4, I could make the following equations: 9+4-3=10 and9+3-2=10 After making as many equations as possible, the player sets aside the used cards and play passes to the next player. Play continues with players refilling their hands to 5 cards at the start of each turn. Whoever uses the most cards by the end of the deck wins.
Grades: 3-5
Dice games -
Build It Big or Build It Small
Players each need a dice and some scratch paper or a whiteboard. Tell them whether they are trying to make a larger or a smaller number. I usually start big but after 5 minutes, switch it to small for variety. Players make dashes on their paper/whiteboard to indicate the place value of the number.
So, if you’re working on hundreds, kids would make 3 dashes, 4 for thousands, and so on. Take turns rolling dice the same number of times as the dashes. Each time a player rolls, he/she must think logically to place the number shown on the dice, on the dashes.(If you are working on a large number and roll a six, it would go on the largest place value space but if you were working on making a small number, it would go on the smallest place value space.)
Once a player has placed a number, it can not be moved. The person with the highest (or lowest, depending upon the game’s goal) wins a point.
Roll and Round
Players need scratch paper or a whiteboard, as well as a set of dice. The number of dice used should match whatever place value you are working on. So if you’re focusing on hundreds, partners need three, or for ten thousands, partners need five.
The first person rolls all three dice at the same time and builds a number with it. The second person does the same and then each person rounds his/her number to the highest place value. For example, a roll of 5, 3, 7 could make the number 753, which would be rounded to 800. Students compare rounded numbers and the highest correctly rounded number wins.
Change the place value you are rounding to every few minutes. For example, if partners have 5 dice, tell them to round it to the nearest ten. After five minutes, tell them on their next game to round it to the nearest hundred…
PIG
You will need a die and paper for each player. The goal is to be the first player to reach 100 points.
The first player rolls the die. If he rolls as 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, he writes down the score.
If he does not roll a 1, the player can decide to roll again. If he again rolls a 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, he adds that number to his previous score. If he rolls a 1, he earns no score and immediately passes the die to the next player.
When a player doesn't roll a 1, he can decide to continue rolling and add the points from each roll to his total score for that turn. Or he can hold onto his points and pass the die to the next player.
However, if the player rolls a 1, he loses all his points (for that turn only) and must pass the die to the next player.
Play continues in this manner until one player reaches a score of 100. Strategic players will know when to hold their score and pass the die so they don't lose their points!
Division Dice
On your turn, roll 3 dice. Choose 2 to make a 2-digit number, and divide that number by the number on the remaining die. Your score is the quotient, rounded down to the nearest whole number. You get a +10 point bonus if the quotient is a whole number (i.e., if there’s no remainder when you perform the division).
Example. You roll 2, 5, 6. You have the following options for moves:
25 ÷ 6: 4 points
26 ÷ 5: 5 points
52 ÷ 6: 8 points
56÷2 = 28. Plus the 10 point bonus is 38 points!
62÷5: 12 points.
65÷2: 32 points.
Card games -
Nifty Fifty
This game is perfect for practicing multi-digit subtraction problems. The goal for each player is to generate a subtraction equation with a difference that is closest to 50. For example, if you are practicing subtracting 3-digit numbers, each player would draw six cards per turn. Whoever can create an equation with a difference closest to 50 earns one point. If a player can create a difference of exactly 50, they receive two points. The first player to reach five points wins. Pencils and paper or whiteboards and markers will most likely be needed.
This game requires many cards per turn, so once the deck is gone, just reshuffle and continue until there is a winner. Face cards are advised to be taken out of the deck for this game, but if you’d like to add a fun twist, you could assign a value to each face card. Or, consider removing the face cards but keeping Jokers. Jokers could be a wild card, and students may choose its value if they happen to draw it.
Subtraction to Zero
Each player starts the game at 100. Each player can take one card per turn and subtract the number they get from 100. To win the game, a player must be first to reach zero. If all the cards have been drawn from the deck, the player who is the closest to zero wins. Jacks are worth 11, Queens are worth 12, Kings are worth 13, and Aces are worth 0, or whatever number is agreed upon.
This game can be made more challenging and involve addition too. Simply have each player draw two cards per turn, adding those numbers together, and then subtracting that total from 100. Adjusting the value of the face cards can also increase the difficulty of the game.
To make it more challenging, students could start the game at 500, choose two cards per turn, multiply them, and then subtract that total from 500. The options are endless!
Multiplication
Number Battle
You will need a deck of cards with the face cards removed. Aces are worth 1. Place the deck in the middle face down. Each player takes two cards and multiplies them. The player with the highest product (total) takes all the cards. Keep playing until you use up all the cards.
The winner is the player with the most cards.
To make this more challenging, turn it into a Multi-digit Multiplication Number Battle by removing all the face cards and 10s. Aces are worth 1. Have each player take 3 (or 4 for even more of a challenge) cards. They make a two digit number and multiply it by the third card. The player with the highest product takes all the cards.
Place Value Challenge
On a blank piece of paper, draw a line for each place value (hundreds, tens, ones). Take out all face cards and 10s. Aces are worth 1. Place the deck in the middle face down. Players take turns flipping a card and deciding which place value they want to put the card on. After a card is placed, you may NOT switch or move it. Keep going back and forth until all place values are filled.
The player who builds the largest number gets a point. The first player to get 10 points wins!
To make it more of a challenge for older students add more places up to hundred thousands.
What is fact fluency?
Math fact fluency is the ability for students to recall basic math facts quickly, accurately, and effortlessly, it is an essential component of students’ math knowledge.
How do we build fact fluency?
It is important to realize that Fact fluency is not just memorizing the basic facts. During RTI Math, we will focus on building students’ conceptual understanding of the basic math facts, rather than focusing solely on memorization. We will encourage children to focus on looking for patterns and relationships between the facts, counting on and connecting to what facts they already know (for example, if students know 5+5=10, then 5+6= one more than ten, or 11). Students are making meaningful connections that make remembering the facts easier.
Fluency websites (k-5):
www.multiplication.com/games/all-games
mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/category/9/addition-and-subtraction
mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/category/7/multiplication-and-division
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