We learn Maths through play.

Play Math games with cards to review facts to practice fluency. If you practice just 2-5 minutes every day, imagine how much faster and fluent your child will be by the end of the year! Make it fun! Take turns or have a race with your child.

• +1 and -1 strategy (click to watch video) – Take a piece of paper. Write numbers 1-20 randomly on the page. Point to different random numbers and say the answer out loud. Example: Point to 15. Think 15 + 1. Say 16.
• +2 strategy (click to watch video) – Take a piece of paper. Write numbers 1-20 randomly on the page. Point to different random numbers and say the answer out loud. The idea is that instead of “calculating +2 or -2”, they are counting up or down by 2. This increases their fluency. Example: Point to 12. Think 10, counting up by 2’s. The next number is 12. Say 12.
  • FOR BIGGER NUMBERS: Flip over two cards. First person to call out the next number counting by two’s gains the cards. The idea is that rather than calculating, the automatic response is to count up by two’s instead. Then practice subtracting by two’s for the -2 strategy.
• Making Tens GO Fish – The goal is to have combinations that equal 10. Take a regular deck of cards. Remove the Jack and King. The Queen represents zero because it looks like a zero. Combinations that make ten: 0+10, 1+9, 2+8, 3+7, 4+6, 5+5.
  • Each player starts with 5 cards. If any of the cards they hold make a combination of 10, they can put the pair of cards down for all to see. For example, if you have a 3 and a 7, you can put the cards down because they equal 10.
  • Then just like how you would play Go Fish, the first player asks anyone playing for a matching card that equals 10. If they have a 6 in their hand, then say, “Do you have a 4?” If they have a 5 in their hand, then say, “Do you have a 5?” If not, “go fish” and take a card from the central deck.

• Addition war – Divide deck in two for each player. Flip over one card. First person to say the sum gains the cards. Challenge: Each person flips over two cards at the same time to add!
• Doubles war – Flip over one card at a time. First person to call out the double gains the cards. For example, turn over a 6. 6 doubled, call out 12!
• Doubles +1 strategy – Flip over one card at a time. First person to call out the double plus one gains the cards. For example, flip over a 6. The question would be 6 + 7  = 13. (6 doubled plus one)
• +10 strategy – Flip over one or two cards. First person to call out +10 gains the cards. Then practice -10.
• +9 strategy – Flip over any number from 1 to 10. Each number, add 9. If they can quickly add +10, then +9 is just one less. For example, flip a 6. Think 6 + 10 = 16 but one less = 15.
• Addition of larger numbers – Flip two cards and another two cards as random numbers to add (practice using decomposing or compensation strategy or regrouping). For grade 2’s, they are expected to be able to add to 100 (2 digit plus 2 digit numbers) and for grade 3’s to 1000 (3 digit plus 3 digit numbers) so using cards, they can create random numbers to add together.
• Alternative: Go to my Symbaloo weblinks page to practice these math fact fluency strategies. To access, look on the right-hand side under Links on this class blog. Click on Symbaloo and it can be found on the bottom row. I created flashcards using Quizlet.
• On iPad, download app called Math Tappers: Finding Sums and Math Tappers: Multiples to practice multiplication and division.

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