suggestions welcome - math games for seriously short people

[ulysses]

I've come to agree with the idea that teaching math to six-year-olds is as much showmanship as anything else. "6 + 4" is a carnival in and of itself. The irony? The most active, needs-to-be-out-of-his-seat-or-he'll-explode kid in my youngest class was, today, perfectly content to sit and do deskwork while his cohorts went nucking futs.

He won't be that way tomorrow. Any ideas for math games, especially anything teaching two-digit addition and subtraction (without regrouping), would be most welcome. :)

[TXlib]

1. Teach 'em how to use an abacus

[goobergunch]

14. Abacuses are great for vote-counting...

I use mine to count Senate roll-call votes. :evilgrin:

[prolesunited]

2. Anything that involves food

Try Cheerios so the parents don't get mad about their kids getting a sugar buzz from M&Ms.

[patdem]

3. my sig other reads math to pass the time

and is very upset that it was not made relevant to him...his question would be 'Why do I care that 6 + 4 = 10?'

Sometimes route is better expressed in reality for certain students. Not all, but if relevancy wss ALSO taught, maybe we could produce more math majors?

[ulysses]

8. the problem comes

in the fact that, often, you have to teach the concept (6 + 4) before the practical aspect ($6 + $4) means anything. That said, relevancy is huge, yes.

[KCDem]

4. how about talking about money?

A lot of 6-y-olds get allowance. Maybe you can talk about how much $ they need to buy various items.

and, for fun, while you're at it, you can discuss the federal budget, and how these kids' future income will go towards paying off the deficit that the current idiot-in-chief is racking up... well, that is, if they haven't been killed by terrorist attacks due to overseas aggression or the horrible air quality. :hi:

[ulysses]

6. they're obsessed with money

We have fake money around with which I'm still trying to do some kind of actual lesson. In another month or so, I'm going to get all the refrigerator-sized boxes I can find, have them decorate them, and turn my room into a series of shops. I'm hoping, at least with some of the older ones (10-12), to do a little "ok, today you're poor" role playing.

I don't think they're up to the federal budget deficit, though. :)

[I AM SPARTACUS]

5. Get paper. Cut out missile shapes. Write "WMD" on them. Hide in class.

Explain to kids that they must find EVERY wmd. Whichever kid collects the most has to make squinty, constipated-looking imitations of Donald Rumsfeld for the rest of the day. (P.S. for variety, you can also put out trailer-shapes and call those WMDs as well...)

P.S. Bring digital camera. Photograph kids. Share with us here at DU. Call it performance art. Send copies of photos to Fox. Brace for media storm.

[prolesunited]

7. Umm...

I'm sure he would like to keep his new job. :eyes:

That would be VERY funny, though!

[I AM SPARTACUS]

9. if Ulysses pulled THAT off, he might hit the job lottery...

[ulysses]

10. or I could just get canned...

Actually, there's one parent who's already complimented me on the DU sticker in the pickup window, but to the kids, I might as well be speaking in Swahili. Body parts are still a fascination for the babies.

[I AM SPARTACUS]

15. well, even tho' the WH and many neo-cons seemed to do so...

you may NOT want to encourage the kids to confuse various body parts with WMDs...

[SOteric]

11. Tic, Tac, Toe, -where to win the square

you have to solve a simple addition or subtraction problem might be entertaining. And as your students become more accomplished, you can trot the game out now and again and raise the level of difficulty.

Edit: ! -Another thought: You can have them group into twos and compete with each other, making it a tournament. Or, if everyone's at a sufficiently similar level, have them compete in teams.

[ulysses]

12. that just might work

We've done bingo, so I know they have the basic concept behind "put the marker here". :)

[SOteric]

13. Going with the 'team' idea again,

You might even find a way to play Math Baseball. Where each student gets a turn "at bat" and they solve math problems to get to first, second, third and home plate. If you're the guy lobbing all the pitches, you can pitch math problems which are appropriate to the level of each student's capabilities.

[LWolf]

16. Here's a link.

http://www.mathcats.com/

I don't know about games, but there are some interesting things there.