Guess My Number! - Math Greater Than / Less Than Lesson-Game

Hi everyone, 

           

Today I want to share with you a math game that I had modified to my own design to help students become aware of the "greater than" "less than" concept. This game is best played at a first or second grade level, as an opening lesson to develop the terminology and basic knowledge of these two phrases. The materials that are required for this lesson-game are as follows:

·      - A sheet of "Guess My Number" board 201-300, for each student in the class

·       - A blank sheet of paper

·       - Doc-cam/projector , in order to project your board at the start of the lesson

·       - Blocks, chips or other game/counting pieces

Once you have the materials, you can follow the steps and provided questioning that I have below. This lesson-game can also be modified to fit into any classroom environment. This lesson-game is separated into three key components; a "Launch, Explore, and Summary" portion. I will have each portion labeled as I walk through the game.

The Launch:

 Have students will meet in an area that they can all see the projector or board, but also collaborate with one another to complete a task you will be posting shortly. Show the students the 201-300 and ask them to guess your number in 5 guesses. Make sure to only play the game once to get the students attention, you want to make them lose this round.

Here are some questions you could ask:
"Alright class so who can tell me what this is?"
"Great! Now I am thinking of a number between 201 and 300. I will write it down and put it under this sheet of paper so my number won't change."

"can you guess my number in 5 guesses!"
"What is your first guess"

This will continue until all five guesses are answered. While the students guess, Make sure to mark off the numbers they guessed that were wrong with counters/chips, to show the remaining numbers. This will come in handy later, and it will also keep your number a mystery. Once the class runs out of guesses send them back to their seats for the exploration phase.

The Exploration:

Inform the students that they will move from working as a whole class trying to solve the number you had, into pairs in order to guess one another's number.

Here are some phrases you could say:
"Now that you have all tried to get my number, you will be able to try and guess each other's number in partners!"

"What I want you to do is play this game until you guess each other's number."

"When you begin to guess your partner's make sure you cross off all the numbers within your guess."
"Can someone explain what I mean?"

(If no one can explain, provide them with a possible example without giving away the main point. Say something along the lines of 'if I was to guess someone's number I could ask if it was in the tens column, and if it wasn’t I could cross off all of the numbers in the tens column').

As students are playing the game, you should be walking around the room to see which students are heading in the direction you want to go with the lesson. Look for students who seem to be asking questions that relate to using greater than or less than terminology or similar terminology (i.e. bigger than/smaller than). This will show if you notice that the students are able to mark off several rows and columns of numbers at once from one question such as asking if their partner's number is greater than or less than fifty.  

The students will play the game two to three times, as in order to make sure that what they are asking allows them to quickly guess their partners number.

The Summary:

Bring the class back together to where they were for the launch portion. Here you will discuss some of the solutions the students found to get their partner's number in the fewest number of guesses.

Here are some phrases you could say:

"Okay class so what have you noticed about trying to guess your partners number?"

"Are there any ways that you found that could get you to the answer with the fewest number of guesses?"

"What are some of those questions you asked about the numbers?"

During this process, make sure to ask the students to explain the questions they used and you write them on the board. Whenever there is a question that was already mentioned, place a tally next to it on the board. Once everyone had time to give the questions they asked, ask them which two questions (or one depending on how the question was phrased) did every pair have in common. The answer to this question will be using the greater than and less than phrases. Ask the students the following questions.

"What happens when we ask if someone's number is greater than or less than a certain number?"

"If we go back to my number what are some question you could ask to finally guess my number?"

"If I give you four more guesses could you guess my number?"

       At this point, the student will guess your number by using the knowledge of greater than       

       and less than terminology in the fewest number of guesses.

And that is how to utilize an easy math game, to develop a brief understanding for greater than and less than concepts, and preparing them for the unit. I hope you enjoy the game! 

Have a great week everyone!