ENG 333, Summer 2010

Sherleen Thibodeaux

Blog Assignment 2

Summary of Win-Win Math Games

Using games to help support math learning helps to lift the math of the pages of the book. The article “Win Win Math Games” describes several games a teacher uses to help students grasp the concept of math being taught to them.

Four Strikes is a game that could start as early as 2^nd grade and could continue well ahead. It helps students reason numerically about the clues, encourages mental computation and understanding of place value. This game works well with competitively, cooperatively and as an individual activity.

101 and out is a game that could begin as early as kindergarten and also go well beyond. It consists of using columns and a number cube the students try to equal 100 by rolling the cube and placing the numbers in the columns at the end the students must equal 100, 10, 1000 etc. depending upon the grade level. Students can play this game in groups. It encourages communication as they reason numerically.

Seven-up is a card game in which the students lay seven cards out and take out any combination of ten they can find until there are no more combinations (kind of like solitaire). This can be played in pairs or individually and is suitable for playing multiple times. It helps the students understand all the numbers that can add up to ten.

Target 300 is a game that gives students the opportunity to practice multiplying by ten. It also helps mental computation and develops number sense. It can be played in pairs by using number cubes; to advance this you could use a nine spinner to challenge the students.

All of these games are wonderful examples that can be played school and also at home. I personally look forward to utilizing these games within my own classroom and having the students share with their families. I believe these games will expand the concept of math to any child with hands on interaction.

· The writer is Marilyn Burns she is a math teacher of second and third grades.

· The publication is Instructor magazine. It would suffice to say the magazine is intended for teaching purposes.

· The call-to-write is to help teachers help students in math.

· The writer’s purpose is to lift the math off the textbook pages and support students learning about numbers and operations. She is using games within the classroom to help the students learn number operations, while they are using their minds to expand the problems.

· The intended audience would be teachers who want to help their students accomplish the goal of Math.

· The context is a variety of math game used within the classroom with a variety of grades and problems to use. An example would be 101 and out, the goal is to roll dice and place the numbers within the columns, once the columns are filled the student then adds up the columns to try to get to the score of 101. The student closest to 101 wins. This game helps the students use their math skills to add in columns, and they have to use reasoning to help determine where to place the number rolled. The game could also be used with larger numbers. This article would motivate teachers to use games to help the students with math reasoning and mental computation and an understanding of place value. These games could also be played at home with family members.

I believe Marilyn achieved what she set out to do, which is to educate others teachers about how math games can help children accomplish math facts. She gives examples and instructions of how to play and encourages the children to work together and accomplish the given goal. She could have given more facts on why children need the extra help or statistics on how many children are lower than average and how using these games helped them accomplish a goal.