Guess My Card: A Math Game for any Operation

Challenge your child to create and solve math riddles in an easy to set up card game! With two or more players, draw from a deck of playing cards to find your numbers. Then, take turns inventing clues that will help others figure out what cards you have. Use an assortment of the basic math operations to help your child practice division, multiplication, addition, or subtraction. By articulating these problems and using backwards thinking, your child will improve his critical thinking and math reasoning skills.

What You Need:

• Two decks of playing cards (with the face cards removed)
• Minimum of two players

What You Do:

1. Explain to the players that they will alternate between being a clue-giver and a guesser.
2. One player should deal 6 cards to each player and place the remaining cards in between the players.
3. After examining the cards, the player who's up first must decide which cards he wants to involve in his clue. Then, he must present the riddle to help the guesser figure out what cards the player has in his hand (e.g. the product of two of my cards is 70). If you're playing with more than two people, have the rotation of clue givers and guessers go around in a circle of play.
4. Next, the guesser has about 5 seconds to guess the value of the cards.
5. If the guesser is correct, the clue-giver should give the involved cards to the guesser. Players should start a "win pile" of the cards they've won.
6. If he doesn't guess correctly after five seconds, the clue-giver should give another clue involving different cards.
7. If you're playing with more than two players, after the second clue has been given, any of the other players are allowed to chime in and guess the value of the clue cards.
8. The clue-giver should then draw how ever many replacement cards he needs, plus an additional card which he should add to his win pile as a reward for giving a good clue.
9. Keep playing until the two decks have been depleted.
10. Have the players count the cards in their win piles. The player who has collected the most cards by the end of the game wins!

If you like using math games in your class, you might also like these FUN games to practice rounding!  Plus, using TASK CARDS to play Scoot is another super fun way to get busy and have fun practicing all kinds of math!

0

Donut Math: A Fun and Easy Way to Practice Multiplication Facts

Hi everyone!  Today I'm sharing a fun math game I liked to use in my classroom to quickly practice multiplication facts everyday.  Shortly after I started teaching 3rd grade my coworker told me about this and we call it Donut Math.  Go read all about it on All About 3rd Grade!

I really hope this is something you can use in your class!  Happy Thanksgiving!

1

3 Games for Practicing Rounding {Freebies}

Rounding and estimating was always a harder concept for my new 3rd graders.  We usually started off the year with place value and rounding was part of that.  I used the "rounding rhyme" and that helped some kiddos.  I used number lines and helped more of them.  We did it over and over.  But, let's face it, it's a little on the boring side.  So here are 3 games that will hopefully spice up rounding practice for your students!  

When I used math games in my classroom I almost always modeled the game as a fish bowl activity (played it with everyone watching/participating) or taught it in a small group first.  Then, we usually had a work time dedicated to playing it while I circulated and helped students as needed.  Eventually, the game could go into a center or rotation, or be used for early finishers.

You'll need number cards (grab my number card freebie) or regular playing cards with the face cards out for this game.  Split the deck into two piles (one for each player).  Each player will turn over 2 cards (or 3 for a 3-digit number, etc.).  Each student rounds their number to the nearest ten (or hundred, thousand...).  Whoever has the biggest rounded number wins- just like in real war! (If there is tie, they play again.) The winner takes all of the cards for that round and they keep playing.  The player with the most cards at the end wins the game.

I like my kiddos to record something when they are playing a math game (especially at the beginning), so I made a Rounding Wars recording sheet that they can use.  They can always just record on a sheet of notebook paper or in a math journal, etc.

Give two players each 8-16 index cards (or cut up cardstock- anything works) each.  You can decide how many cards based on ability/time/etc.  Have them write a number of their choice (2, 3 or 4 digit) on one card.  On the next card they will write the number rounded to the nearest ten, hundred or thousand depending on what you want them to practice.  Have each partner check each card for correctness.  Do this until all cards are done. Mix up all the cards and lay face down in equal rows.  Now, play the game like memory.  One player will pick a card and then try to pick the matching rounding card.  When they get a match they keep the cards and go again.  Not a match, they turn them back over and their turn is over.  The game is over when all the cards are gone.  Whoever has the most cards wins!  This would be a great game to play in a small group where you can really hone in and help round those numbers when the kids are making the cards.

In this game, your students use a spinner to spin a 2, 3 or 4 digit number.  They record it and then round it.  This can just be a hands-on practice they can do independently or it can be done with a partner.  If they are working with a partner, it can be more of a game- where they record the number, round it and whoever has the biggest (or lowest- if you want to change things up) number wins that round.  They can put a little star or check mark next to that round on their recording sheet and the person with the most stars on their sheet at the end wins.  I also would have their partners be checking them as they played that they are rounding correctly.  I like them to be recording something too, because I can always look at this and see if they get it or I need to stop and sit and play with them for a bit.  Grab this Spin Me Round freebie and use it as a center or small group practice with your kiddos.

If you need some more ideas for practicing rounding in your classroom you might like my Rounding Pack which has a variety of worksheets for practice and task cards that would be another great math center!

0

Books to Use When Teaching Geometry

I love using literature to introduce math concepts whenever I can.  I usually started my geometry unit reading The Greedy Triangle (it's a classic!).  Incorporating books and literature kinda keeps things interesting and changes things up in math too- I mean math teachers like to read too!!
I also liked to use videos and songs too- check out my blog post about that here.  

Here's a list of books you might want to check out when you are teaching geometry:

The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns

If You Were a Quadrilateral by Molly Blaisdell

If You Were a Polygon by Marcie Aboff

Grandfather Tang's Story: A Tale Told with Tangrams by Ann Tompert

Perfect Square by Micheal Hall

Spaghetti and Meatballs For All by Marilyn Burns

Perimeter, Area and Volume: A Monster Book of Dimension by David Adler

Mummy Math: An Adventure in Geometry by Cindy Neuschwander

What's Your Angle, Pythagorus? by Julie Ellis

Shape Up! by David Adler

Let's Fly A Kite (Symmetry) by Stuart Murphy

Seeing Symmetry by Loreen Leedy

Captain Invincible and the Space Shapes (3-D Shapes) by Stuart Murphy

Sir Cumference Math Adventures by Cindy Neuschwander

These task cards are great to use during math centers!  I made this set of 20 task cards that covers identifying polygons, recognizing and drawing shapes, and attributes of shapes.

And I loved using exit tickets at times in my class because it was a super fast way for me to see who mastered a concept.  I'd give my kiddos an exit ticket, collect it as they headed out the door and then quickly sort them into 3 piles-  totally got it, definitely didn't get it and the in betweeners.  That just made it easy for me to grab a quick group when I had time to try and do a quick reteach later that day or the next day before I started the next lesson.

Follow my Teaching Math board on Pinterest for more ideas!

0

Geometry Videos and Songs

I really like to use videos and songs to help engage my students when we are learning new concepts.  You never know exactly what will stick with each kiddo- and it just might be that song you showed them on YouTube or the way it was presented in a new short video!

One site I used all the time was Scholastic Study Jams.  Study Jams has a ton of informative videos  for Science and Math.  Many times there is even a step by step guide and a little "test yourself" quiz that goes along with the topic.  My kids loved watching these and always wanted to do the quizzes too.  It's something that we sometimes did as whole class and sometimes they would get to view them during a math technology center.  Definitely check it out to see what they have available for any math concept or science topic you are teaching right now!

Scholastic Study Jams has a ton of Geometry topics available:

Types of Lines

Measuring Angles

Classify Triangles

Solid Figures

Lines of Symmetry

Congruent Figures

Construct Angles

Classify Angles

Classify Quadrilaterals

Similar Figures

Transformations

Edges, Faces, Vertices

Peter Weatherall songs and videos are another great resource.  I also really loved incorporating these geometry song videos into my lessons too!  My kids loved them and after they saw them once they would ask to watch them again and again.   He has lots of different songs on all kinds of subjects on his YouTube channel.  

All of these videos are ShareSafe links and safe for the classroom:

The Polygon Song (A favorite in my classroom!)

I am a Parallelogram

Angles Music Video 

Circle Music Video

Other videos that might be helpful when teaching geometry concepts:  

(All YouTube videos are SafeShare links)

Basic shapes Video

What Shape Is It?

Khan Academy: Basic Geometry

Types of Lines Song-Parallel, Perpendicular and Intersecting Lines

Types of Angles Song- Acute, Obtuse and Right 

Types of Angles Suess Song

3D Shapes Song

Types of Triangles Song 

Triangles

The Geometry Rap Song (Made by a 2nd grade class!)

 Check out some of my other posts with math tips and products for place value, telling time and measurement. :)

If you're looking for some geometry practice for your kiddos, these task cards are great to use during math centers!  I have this set of task cards and exit tickets that covers identifying polygons, recognizing and drawing shapes, and attributes of shapes.  This list of books for teaching geometry is super useful too!

Follow my Teaching Math board on Pinterest for more ideas!

1

Counting Down 'Til the Big Day: Holiday Themed Math- Merry Measurement!

I am an teaming up with Focused on Fifth and other awesome teacher bloggers Counting Down 'Till the Big Day with some fun ideas for you!

Today it's all about Holiday themed math activities!

Depending on my districts learning schedule, I seem as though I am often times ending up either finishing up or smack in the middle of my measurement unit right when the holidays get into full swing. So, because of this I try to find ways to incorporate the holiday spirit in some of my activities.  One year I decided to do some Christmas Candy Measurement Bags as a fun center for my kiddos!

All I did was gather some holiday themed candy, stick it in a Christmas bag, give the kiddos some rulers and - viola- a fun measurement center!  Depending on the grade level or needs of your students you can have them measure to the nearest inch, half inch or quarter inch, or to the nearest centimeter.  

Just a sample of some candy that I used.

This was great because they were able to practice measuring things that weren't the "perfect" inch or half inch or centimeter and they had to use their knowledge and judgement to decide the length of the items.  Now, if you are just getting started with measurement this may be difficult, so you might want to find candy items that will be appropriate for your students to measure.  You can also differentiate this for your students' needs using different items or how you have them measure!

If you find yourself in need of some more holiday measurement activities you can check out my Merry Measurement- it's three Christmas themed activities to help your students with measuring inches and centimeters.

This first activity included is Christmas Tree Measurement.  One way to use this in your classroom is to do some measuring around the room. First, laminate and cut out the 10 Christmas trees. Then, I like to tape them up around the room for students to find (I usually make 2 sets so that there a couple places for the kiddos to measure and it doesn't get crowded anywhere). Students first will estimate the height of each tree and record their estimate. Then they will measure how tall each tree is and record their actual measurement.  You could also just use this as a simple measurement center or rotation.

I've also done something just like this where my class elf, Jessie, left peppermint candy all around the room for the kids to measure.  Not real candy, but paper peppermint sticks.  Although Jessie did leave each kiddo a candy cane too! 

Next up is Christmas Inches. This is a great fun activity or center! First, cut out and laminate (for durability) each holiday picture. Then, the students will measure the height of each picture and record their measurement on the recording sheet. 

  There is also a questioning worksheet on comparing the lengths of the pictures included. 

Last up is Merry Measurement.  Students just measure each line from one holiday character to another using centimeters and record each measurement on their recording sheet.  A super easy and fun center or activity!

Jump on over to all of the other blogs to find some more holiday math ideas and activities!

An InLinkz Link-up

3

*FALL* in Love with Teaching Blog Hop & Printing on Sticky Notes!

Hi guys!  Welcome to our #thirdgradetribe Fall in Love with Teaching Blog Hop!  There are 20 of us ready to give you some fun tips, good ideas and show you some great resources for your classroom!  Make sure you hop around to everyone for a special chance to enter giveaways or get an awesome freebie from all the teachers in the hop.  Plus, make sure you enter our special GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY!  There will be 2 big winners- one person will win a $50 TpT gift card and another lucky friend will receive a $25 TpT gift card!

Today I want to talk about telling time!  (I know it's not very fall like, but hopefully you're going to be teaching this soon.) Now, I know in third grade it's assumed that kids know how to tell time already and are ready to move on to elapsed time.  That would be great, wouldn't it?!  Well, I always reviewed telling time for, I would say, at least a week before I ventured in to elapsed time when I taught third grade math.  We got out our Judy clocks and practiced, practiced, practiced.

One little trick that I liked to do to practice throughout the day was use sticky notes for a quick check assessment.  Basically, I just used my clock stamp to stamp blank clocks on a bunch of sticky notes or I would put my sticky notes on a template I had made in Power Point and then print off blank clocks on all the sticky notes.  Each student would have a blank clock sticky note on the corner of their desk and randomly throughout the day I would call out a time and my students would have to draw the hands on the clock and write the time.  I would collect it and look them over to easily be able to see who got it or who still needed more practice. 

1.  Print the template or make your own.

I created a really simple template for printing on sticky notes in Power Point.  You can grab it here.

I included the blank clocks on the second slide for you to use when printing.

2.  Stick the Post-It Notes on the page.

Put your six Post-It Notes on the printed template.  Make sure you have the adhesive side at the top of the square each time.

3.  Print what you want on the Post-It Notes.

Find your printer's manual feed tray to put your sticky note paper in.  If you're not sure which way your printer prints paper then you will want to run a quick test print page to figure it out.  Make sure the adhesive end on the Post-It Note is going into the printer first!  If you don't do this then it could damage your printer.  Then, print one page at a time of your design.

Obvi, you can use this sticky note template to print ANYTHING on sticky notes!  It's awesome!  I also loved using pre-printed sticky notes in guided reading and for easy writing rubrics for students to evaluate their writing.  This is also great to use in interactive notebooks or journals- instead of printing labels (which can be expensive), just print straight onto the sticky note.
This is just so easy- I promise!

If you need more practice with telling time check out my Telling Time Centers.  These five centers were designed to meet the second grade standards, but would be great to use throughout the year for your third graders to review!

And now for the giveaways!!! Both of these giveaways will run from 9/26-9/30!

Enter using the Rafflecopter below to win your own copy of my Telling Time Centers.  And since it's fall now, I'm also giving away my Sweet Fall Rounding Task Cards!

 

And now enter to win our GRAND PRIZE- a $50 TpT gift card and a $25 TpT gift card!

Next on the hop is my friend, Anna, 

from Hanging With Mrs. Hulsey.

Just click the image below to head on over!

  Happy Fall Y'all!

5

All about Place Value- Fun, Fun, Fun Summertime Blog Hop

Welcome to the Fun, Fun, Fun Summertime Blog Hop!  I've teamed up with Wise Owl Teacher Creations and a group of lovely bloggers so that you can read more about how to help keep your kiddos learning over the summer and grab some awesome freebies along the way!
Today, we are going to talk a little about place value.

Summertime is a great time to work with your child to get ahead and prepare for the upcoming school year!  One thing that is fundamental for students to understand in mathematics is place value.  I think that by the end of second grade it really is essential that students have developed a solid number sense and understanding of place value concepts.  To do this kids need a lot of different kinds of instructional experiences.

I just finished a set of Place Value Centers that would be great for fun summer practice and even better to use in your classroom to help your kiddos practice and master place value to the hundreds. 

Most of these centers are really hands on, so your wide variety of learners are all going to be happy.  These are geared towards 2nd graders, but could easily be used with your advanced first graders or with third graders who need some more reinforcement with number sense and place value.

 

First up are just some place value task cards.  I LOVE task cards!  I used them as centers or stations in math and reading ALL.THE.TIME.  So, I had to include some with this pack.  There are a wide variety of questions- asking students to find the value of a digit, look at base ten models, expanded form, and do some mental math adding and subtracting 10 and 100.  There's an answer key included too so your kiddos can check these themselves.  If you like task cards I have another set included in my Place Value Pack, plus tons of others in my store for a variety of skills.

Next up are some place value puzzles.  These come in 2 sets- one with two pieces and one set with three pieces to match.  Great practice for those hands on learners.  One thing I like to do is color code the backs of the pieces, so that the kids can double check they completed the puzzle correctly. (All 3 pieces have a blue star, etc.)

Another fun station- Poppin' Place Value.  The students match each popcorn bag with the kernels that match the bag.  More practice with written form, expanded form and values.

There is also some practice comparing numbers.  All of the centers use numbers up to 1,000 and can be differentiated by just taking out certain ones or even adding higher numbers if needed. The kids can sort each inequality on the mats then record them on the recording sheet.  There is an answer sheet included so students can even check their work on their own.

Last, but not least is mental math adding and subtrationg 10 and 100 using their place value reasoning.  This center needs number cards.  If you don't have any or just want some new super cute ones for your students you can get my Animal Number Cards for free in my store.

So, there you have it for the centers included in this product.  I know these are great for using throughout the summer and the school year to reinforce this essential concept.  You can get these in my store for 50% off TODAY!

So, maybe you are totally into some place value math centers, but really would rather be paperless?  Or you're trying to implement more technology or Google classroom into your daily routine? You will LOVE my Digital Place Value Task Cards! These are 5 sets of digital task cards that you can use in Google Classroom, in Google Slides or many other apps.

Just for our Fun, Fun, Fun Summertime Blog Hop I've got a special freebie for you!  Another place value center that you can use in your class- Piggy Place Value.  Just click the picture to download it.  You'll need number cards for this one too, so don't forget to grab my Animal Number Cards freebie from my store.

Happy Summer!  

Follow my Place Value board on Pinterest for more ideas!

5