I have!
Have you noticed that your students have struggled with basic number sense?
I have!
Have you ever put the two together?
I have!!
In my high school Geometry classes, I want my students to think! I want my students to increase their number sense. I want my students to enjoy mathematical ideas like I do! So what did I do? I spent one hour a week at the asking my students to play games. I randomly assigned students to groups and gave them a game to play. I started with easy games like Uno and Tenzi. I seldom explain the games forcing the students to read and follow the directions. As time progress, they played games like Tiny Polka Dots, Prime Climb, Numero, Quadfactors, etc. My students have built relationships AND have improved their number sense. WIN-WIN!!
Where to start...try one game day. Find all of your own games that connect numbers and and put a different game at each table. Make sure the first games are easy to understand, like Tenzi. It takes a LOT of dice, 10 per person but it gets students thinking!
About Tenzi...There are a wide variety of rules. I created a list for students to follow for each round. Students keep their own score. 5 points for winner of each round.
Round 1...roll all 1s. Etc.
Round 7...roll all evens.
Round 8...roll all odds.
Round 9...roll all primes.
Round 10...roll all composites. Etc.
If you're students get a chance to play, they WILL think mathematically! Just try it!
