Fluency Games for Student Entering Grade Two

How Many Are Hiding?

-Appropriate for students entering grades 1-3

In this activity, a student has a certain number of items (counters, crackers, pennies, etc) and a cup. They take turns with another child or with a parent hiding some of their items inside the cup and showing the leftovers. The student works out the answer to the question, "How many are hiding?" and say the full number combination.

Example: Start with 10 pennies. Hide 6 in the cup. Ask "How many are hiding?" The student may respond with, "Four are hiding. Four plus six equals ten."

Shut the Box

-Appropriate for students entering grades 1-3

Write the numbers 1 through 9 in a horizontal row on a piece of paper. Player 1 rolls two dice and calculates the sum of the two numbers. Player 1 then chooses to cross out numbers that have the same sum as what was calculated from the dice roll. If the numbers 7, 8, and 9 are crossed out, player 1 may choose to roll one or two dice. If any of these numbers are still uncovered, the player must use both dice. Player 1 continues rolling dice, calculating the sum, and crossing out numbers until they can no longer continue. If all numbers are crossed out, the player says, ¨shut the box.¨ If not all numbers are crossed out, player 1 determines the sum of the numbers that are not crossed out and that is his or her score. If ¨shut the box¨ is achieved, player 1 records a score of 0.

Player 2 writes the numbers 1-9 and follows the same rules as player 1. The player with the lowest score wins.

Water Balloon Math

1.) Gather your materials. You will need water balloons, a marker, some number targets, page protectors (only if you want to reuse them), bean bags, and hula hoops. You will also want a bucket or something to carry the water balloons in.

2.) Start by making your targets. You can choose any numbers you want. Make sure that all of your equations equal one of the numbers.

3.) Get the hose and fill your balloons. Next use your marker and write your equations on the balloons. You can adjust the difficulty by writing just a number for preschoolers, adding and subtracting for students in Kindergarten to Second Grade, and you could do multiplication or division for upper elementary.

4.) Now it is time to set up your targets. If it is a windy day you might want to add the bean bags or a weight to the page protectors so your targets do not fly around.

5.) It is finally time to play. Grab a balloon, read the equation, and let the water balloon launch towards the target!

Flash Cards