Skills Tested: Multiplication Facts, Factoring

Materials Needed: create worksheet here, pen or pencil

Directions: generate and print a custom worksheet.

Make up or generate a sequence of random numbers within 100 or so (e.g., using dice or cards). For each number, ask the children to look for all factors on their bingo boards.

Works best if students are comfortable with multiplication within 100.

Credit: Tuan Nguyen (source code).

Skills tested: Multiplication of decimals

Materials Needed: 1 die per group of players, 2 large paper clips per group, The game board (click here) 

Directions: The goal is to multiply factors to get four products in a row, column, or diagonal on the game board.

1. Chose which team will uses X’s and which will use O’s.

2. For the first round of play, the opposing team puts a paper clip on one of the factors in the two bottom rows of the game board.  The team that is playing first then places its clip on one of the factors in the other row.  So if the opposing team picks a factor in the row of decimal factors, the playing team needs to pick a factor in the row of integers.  The playing team multiplies these two numbers, finds their product in the table, and “tops it” by writing its symbol, X or O, on it.

3. The teams now alternate.  On each turn, the playing team moves either one of the paper clips to a new factor, multiplies these factors, and writes X or O on top of the product.

4. The first team to have four X’s or O’s beside each other in a row, column, or diagonal wins.

Tips

1.    Some students may make choices based on facts they know rather than identifying the most strategic factor combinations.  Before students move a clip, ask:  What product would help you the most right now?

2.    A team might calculate a product incorrectly.  You might want to have a conversation with the students about what should happen in this case.  One possibility is that the team that made a mistake loses its turn.  Another possibility might be to allow them to make a correction. 

Skills Tested: Multiplying decimals  by integers, Using the commutative and distributive properties of multiplication

Materials Needed: 1 deck of Equal Values cards per group of four students (click here for cards), 1 recording sheet per group (click here for sheet) 

Directions: The goal is to get more pairs of cards that have equal values. To introduce the game, the teacher writes the following expressions on the board and ask students to work with a partner to find two expressions that have the same value.

 0.2 x 18

   20 x 0.2 - 2 x 0.2

   0.2 x 9 + 0.2 x 9

   0.2 x 9 + 0.2 x 6 + 0.2 x 3

1. Pairs of students should report back to the larger group and their findings and their reasoning.  The class as whole should eventually conclude that all four expressions have the same value. 

2. After explaining the directions and showing how to use the recording sheet, give each team a card with an equal sign.

3. Shuffle the cards.  Deal each team four cards face up for all to see.  Put the other cards facedown in a pile.

4. On each turn, a team can do one of three things:

   • Find two of its cards that have an equal value.  Set this pack to the side.  Replace them with two cards from the top of the pile.

   • Trade one of its cards with one of the other team’s cards when the team is able to make a pack.  Set this pack to the side.  Replace the playing team’s card with a card from the top of the pile.

   • Draw a card from the top of the pile and add it to the team’s cards.

5. When a pack is made, both teams must agree on the value, and then one player records the thinking.  For example, if a team has the two cards 2 x 0.3 + 2 x 0.3   and  4 x 0.3, they would make entries on the recording sheet showing that both cards are equal to 1.2.  One possible explantion might be that 2 +2 =4, so both cards are showing 4 x 0.3. 

6. If no cards are left in the deck, a team can still play, but it won’t take a card.

7. The game ends when no team can make another pack.

8.  The team with the most packs wins.

Tip: Encourage students who aren’t sure whether expressions are equal to replace larger numbers with smaller numbers and see what they think.  This is an example of simplifying a problem, an important problem-solving strategy. 

What to look for: Do students recognize the commutative and distributive properties of multiplication? 

*Adapted from Well Played Grades 3-5 by Linda Dacey, Karen Gartland, & Jayne Bamford Lynch.

Skills Tested: Working with multiple types of math sentences, including addition and multiplication

Materials Needed: In need of update

Directions: The object of the game is to construct 24 from the numbers on the card. Say, for example, a card contained four numbers: 3, 4, 5, and 5. You may only use each number once. One such solution is: 5 x 5 - 4 + 3 = 24. 

Adapted from 24 game.

Skills Tested: Strategic thinking, anticipation, subtraction and multiplication skills built into game

Materials Needed: Whiteboard and markers

Directions: Draw 23 X's on the whiteboard. Players will alternate turns and on each turn you are allowed to erase anywhere between 1 and 3 Xs. The person who erases the last X first wins.

Alternate Instructions: Draw a pyramid with the first row containing one match stick, the second three, the third five, and the last seven. Each turn, someone can take away one to three match sticks from only one row. The person left with the last match stick at the end loses.

Adapted from mathcoachblog. See article for extension questions. An explanation of the strategy can be found either on Brilliant or on Youtube. 

Skills Tested:  Number sense, estimation

Materials Needed: Questions from this website. Whiteboards and markers are also helpful for students to map out their thinking.

Directions: Simply pair teachers up with students and have the teachers ask questions. Teachers can guide students along to reasonable estimates. The important part here is that they develop problem-solving skills.

Skills Tested: Multiplication

Materials Needed: Whiteboards and markers

Directions: A teacher is matched with 1-2 students and each person gets their own whiteboard. On the whiteboard, each person has 10 seconds to write down a math problem and then hand the whiteboard to the next person in the group to solve. The first in the group to solve the problem gets a point.