What's That NUMBER???!!!!

It's time for everyone's favorite game show, "What's That NUMBER????!!!!" Our contestants are Slither, Squirt, Squeaker, and Sunshine. The rules of the game are: 1) You may not say the number aloud, 2) You may not look at your neighbor's dry erase board, 3) You may not touch the blocks, and 4) You may not hold up your board until your game show host says that it is time. The contestant with the most correct answers wins! The prize: a treat of your choosing!!!! Ok... the ten and one blocks are set for the first problem. On your mark, get set, GO! It's time to write your answer. Come on everybody, WHAT'S THAT NUMBER????!!!!

On days that school is out of session, I often watch another little boy while his parents work. Since I had home all three boys and Kate, I decided to do a math game with them. All of the boys are learning to count numbers using 10 sticks and 1 blocks. They are also learning place value. Andrew and Benjamin are both having some difficulty with these larger numbers. So, I decided that a game show format and a little friendly competition might be just the motivation to get them to learn. The kids all seemed to have a blast with the game. We ended up with a 4 way tie at the end! The modification for Kate (being that she is learning preschool/kindergarten math) was that she was to only count the green one blocks and then write that number on the board. She loved being able to participate in the game with the big boys!

The game was very simple. I simply displayed the ten and one blocks where everyone could see them and had each kid write what they thought the answer was on their dry erase board. When I said "Go," they lifted up their boards to show their answers. A correct answer earns a point. I used my best game show host voice and even attempted a short theme song hum at the beginning to set a playful and fun mood. The winner of the game got a special treat (either a couple M&Ms or Skittles). I tried to do a tie breaker, but after the first round, all of them seemed to understand the concept and got the answers right. The number 100 was actually what allowed Squeaker (aka Ben) to catch up with the other 3.