My middle school students have really struggled with integers the last couple of years and so I've spent a lot of time trying to find activities to help them practice. One day I saw an advertisement for a game, Robbin Eggs (link provided at the bottom), in a magazine. It looked like fun, but dealt only in positive number answers. After viewing tutorials on the game, I determined it would be too easy for my students (it is recommended for ages 7+), but the idea stuck with me. I decided to make my own adjusted version of the game. I started with an empty egg carton and 18 plastic eggs: green for positive and pink for negative (I also made one with blue and yellow, the colors don't matter, as long as one is positive and one is negative). I then labeled the bottom of each egg with the following numbers: Positive: 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 15, 20 Negative: -1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6, -7, -10 and place the eggs randomly in the carton with the number side down. I still needed a way for students to know what their goal (answer) would be and how many eggs they could turn over in pursuit of it. Since I wanted the game to be ever changing (and easy to store) I decided to use dice for this. I used a D6, a +/-, and a D16. The D6 die tells the students how many eggs to turn over, and the other two combined tell the students their goal. The game always takes a bit of explaining the first time around so we play a round together as a group. I roll the dice and demonstrate how to set up the game board by drawing lines for each egg and putting an equal sign and my goal. This helps students easily keep track of how many eggs they've turned over and remember what number they are trying to end up at. As I turn over eggs I talk through my thought process: "I need a negative number so I'll turn over a pink egg. I have -4, but -11 is further to the left on the number line so I'll turn over another pink egg. I got a -10, -10 + -4 = -14. Now I am past my goal and need to go back to the right on the number line, so I'll turn over a positive (green) egg. I got 13, 13 + -14 = -1..." As I'm talking through things, I am writing them on the board for students to see how they should be showing their work and tracking their progress. Scoring is determined by how far my final answer is from the goal. In this example, my final answer was -9, the goal was -11, that mean that I was two away from my goal. My score for the round would be 2. The ultimate goal is to have the lowest score possible. After each round all eggs are turned back over, but kept in the same spots, so students who are paying attention can remember where certain numbers are to help them in future rounds. When I have finished, I leave the example on the board for their reference. Students then play the game in groups of 2-3, taking turns and checking each other's work as they go. I circulate checking their work (which is easy because they are writing their answers below their number list as they go) and settling any disputes about the math. For students who are still new to integers, or who really struggle, I will provide them with a number line to help them do the math and figure their score. When it's time to clean up students turn all eggs over and place the dice inside the first egg. Cartons can then be closed and stacked for another day. If students play the game quite a bit it is easy to renew the board by simply moving the eggs around into new locations. My students really enjoy this game and beg to play it. I keep it on the shelf and it is one they will voluntarily go play when they have extra time after finishing something early. Some of my other integer-related products that have helped students are: |
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AuthorI've been teaching since 2000 and love what I do! Archives
May 2018
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