Fifth Grade and Sixth Grade Math Games For Teachers

Bonnie Adama has created a resource of 112 games proven in the classroom to help your fifth and sixth graders learn basic math skills. With these skills, your students will be well on their way to success in 5th and 6th grade math.

The games cover these important areas in 5th and 6th grade math:

• Addition, Place Value, and Rounding
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Division
• Multiple Operations
• Decimals
• Integers
• Fractions
• Money
• Coordinates

Here is a sample game that I have found very effective when working with fifth and sixth graders:

Decimals are a challenge for fifth and sixth graders. “Do Your Decimals” is one of several games available which helps students practice adding decimals.

Do Your Decimals

What you need:
- 2 players
- deck of cards, 10’s removed
- 1 die
- paper, pencil

Shuffle cards and place them face down in a pile.

Players draw three cards and make a three-digit number.

Even numbers are whole numbers.
Odd numbers are decimals.

Example: Player #1 draws a 7, 4, and 9. He writes it on his paper as 4.79 or 4.97

Players draw three more cards and arrange them as they did their first set (even numbers are whole numbers, odd numbers are decimals.)

Example: Player #1 draws three more cards and gets 6, 2, and 5. He writes it as 62.5 or 26.5

Players add their two numbers together.

Example: Player #1

    4.97
+62.5  
  67.47

Both players turn over three new cards per turn after the first round and both continue to add these three new cards to their last score.

The winner is the player who is closest to 500 or 1000 without exceeding it.

Fifth and Sixth Grade Math Games For Parents

Bonnie Adama has created a rich resource of 112 games proven in the classroom to help both fifth and sixth graders learn basic math skills. With these skills, your child will be well on their way to success in 5th and 6th grade math.

The games cover these important areas in 5th and 6th grade math:

• Addition, Place Value, and Rounding
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Division
• Multiple Operations
• Decimals
• Integers
• Fractions
• Money
• Coordinates

Here is a sample game that I have found very effective when working with fifth and sixth graders:

Decimals are a challenge for fifth and sixth graders. “Do Your Decimals” is one of several games which help students practice adding decimals.

Do Your Decimals

What you need:
- 2 players
- deck of cards, 10’s removed
- 1 die
- paper, pencil

Shuffle cards and place them face down in a pile.

Players draw three cards and make a three-digit number.

Even numbers are whole numbers.
Odd numbers are decimals.

Example: Player #1 draws a 7, 4, and 9. He writes it on his paper as 4.79 or 4.97

Players draw three more cards and arrange them as they did their first set (even numbers are whole numbers, odd numbers are decimals.)

Example: Player #1 draws three more cards and gets 6, 2, and 5. He writes it as 62.5 or 26.5

Players add their two numbers together.

Example: Player #1

4.97
+62.5
67.47

Both players turn over three new cards per turn after the first round and both continue to add these three new cards to their last score.

The winner is the player who is closest to 500 or 1000 without exceeding it.

Fourth Grade Math Games For Teachers

Bonnie Adama has created a rich resource of 120 games proven in the classroom to help your fourth graders learn basic math skills. With these skills, your students will be well on their way to success in 4th grade math.

The games cover these important areas in 4th grade math:

• Addition, Place Value, and Rounding
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Division
• Multiple Operations
• Integers
• Fractions
• Decimals
• Money
• Coordinates

Here is a sample game that I have found very effective when working with fourth graders:

Fourth graders have a lot of things they need to practice and perfect. Double-digit multiplication is one of them. “Get to 10″ is a great game for helping to achieve that goal.

Get to 10!

What you need:
- 2 players
- deck of cards, 10’s removed
- paper, pencil

Shuffle cards and place face down in a pile.

Each player takes four cards, moves them around, and arranges them to make a two-digit multiplication problem. The object is to make the largest product possible.

Players write out their problems and check each other’s answers. The player with the highest product wins 1 point. The first player to score 10 points is the winner.

Variation: Make the smallest product to win.

Use calculators to check answers.

Fourth Grade Math Games For Parents

Bonnie Adama has created a rich resource of 120 games proven in the classroom to help your fourth grader learn basic math skills. With these skills, your child will be well on their way to success in 4th grade math.

The games cover these important areas in 4th grade math:

• Addition, Place Value, and Rounding
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Division
• Multiple Operations
• Integers
• Fractions
• Decimals
• Money
• Coordinates

Here is a sample game that I have found very effective when working with fourth graders:

Fourth graders have a lot of things they need to practice and perfect. Double-digit multiplication is one of them. “Get to 10″ is a great game for helping to achieve that goal.

Get to 10!

What you need:
- 2 players
- deck of cards, 10’s removed
- paper, pencil

Shuffle cards and place face down in a pile.

Each player takes four cards, moves them around, and arranges them to make a two-digit multiplication problem. The object is to make the largest product possible.

Players write out their problems and check each other’s answers. The player with the highest product wins 1 point. The first player to score 10 points is the winner.

Variation: Make the smallest product to win.

Use calculators to check answers.

Third Grade Math Games for Teachers

Bonnie Adama has created a rich resource of 147 games proven in the classroom to help your third graders learn basic math skills. With these skills, your students will be well on their way to success in 3rd grade math.

The games cover these important areas in 3rd grade math:

• Simple Addition
• Place Value, Addition, and Rounding to 100
• Place Value, Addition, and Rounding to 1,000
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Division
• Multiple Operations
• Fractions
• Money

Here is a sample game that I have found very effective when working with third graders:

If it’s third grade, it means multiplication! One of my favorite multiplication games is Multiplication Fact Feud. It’s a great way target and practice certain facts.

Multiplication Fact Feud

What you need:
- 2 players
- deck of cards

Teacher or parent decides the particular multiplication fact to practice (i.e. x7, x4, x8, etc.) Once the constant factor is determined, that card is placed between the two players. Players then divide the remaining cards evenly between themselves.

Each player turns over one card and multiplies that card by the constant in the middle. Players must verbalize their math sentence. The player with the highest product collects both cards.

Example:

In the event of a tie (i.e. both players have the same product), each player turns over one more card and multiplies that by the constant factor. The player with the highest product wins all four cards.

When the cards are all used up, the player with the most cards wins the game.

Third Grade Math Games For Parents

Bonnie Adama has created a rich resource of 147 games proven in the classroom to help your third grader learn basic math skills. With these skills, your child will be well on their way to success in 3rd grade math.

The games cover these important areas in 3rd grade math:

• Simple Addition
• Place Value, Addition, and Rounding to 100
• Place Value, Addition, and Rounding to 1,000
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Division
• Multiple Operations
• Fractions
• Money

Here is a sample game that I have found very effective when working with third graders:

If it’s third grade, it means multiplication! One of my favorite multiplication games is Multiplication Fact Feud. It’s a great way target and practice certain facts.

Multiplication Fact Feud

What you need:
- 2 players
- deck of cards

Teacher or parent decides the particular multiplication fact to practice (i.e. x7, x4, x8, etc.) Once the constant factor is determined, that card is placed between the two players. Players then divide the remaining cards evenly between themselves.

Each player turns over one card and multiplies that card by the constant in the middle. Players must verbalize their math sentence. The player with the highest product collects both cards.

Example:

In the event of a tie (i.e. both players have the same product), each player turns over one more card and multiplies that by the constant factor. The player with the highest product wins all four cards.

When the cards are all used up, the player with the most cards wins the game.

Second Grade Math Games for Teachers

Bonnie Adama has created a rich resource of 161 games proven in the classroom to help your second graders learn basic math skills. With these skills, your students will be well on their way to success in 2nd grade math.

The games cover these important areas in 2nd grade math:

• Number Recognition and Counting
• Greater Than/Less Than, More or Less
• Addition to 10
• Addition to 30
• Place Value, Addition, and Rounding to 100
• Place Value, Addition, and Rounding to 1,000
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Division
• Multiple Operations
• Money
• Time
• Fractions
• Shapes

Here is a sample game that I have found very effective when working with second graders:

Get Close to 100 is a great game for second graders. It helps children practice double-digit addition with special emphasis on understanding place value.

Get Close to 100

What you need:
- 2 – 4 players
- deck of cards, 10s removed
- Get “Close to 100″ recording sheets (below) for each player

The object of the game is to make a two-digit addition problem that comes as close to 100 as possible.

Shuffle cards and place them face down in a pile.

Player #1 turns over 4 cards and moves the cards around until he/she has created a two-digit addition problem whose sum will be as close to 100 as he/she can make it. You can go over 100. Player #1 records this problem on his/her recording sheet. Player #2 checks for addition accuracy.

Example: Player #1 draws a 4, a 7, a 2, and a 5. He/she moves the cards around until she/he decides that:

47 + 52 = 99 is the closest that he/she can get.

Player # 2 draws four cards and does the same.

The points for each round are the difference between their sum and 100.

Example: A sum of 95 scores 5 points and so does a sum of 105.

Players compare scores at the end of this first round. They put their four cards in a discard pile and player #2 begins first and turns over four more cards for the second round.

After six rounds, players total their points and the player with the lowest score wins.

Download the Close to 100 scoresheet as a Word document

Download the Close to 100 scoresheet as a pdf

Second Grade Math Games for Parents

Bonnie Adama has created a rich resource of 161 games proven to help your second grader learn basic math skills. With these skills, your child will be well on their way to success in 2nd grade math.

The games cover these important areas in 2nd grade math:

• Number Recognition and Counting
• Greater Than/Less Than, More or Less
• Addition to 10
• Addition to 30
• Place Value, Addition, and Rounding to 100
• Place Value, Addition, and Rounding to 1,000
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Division
• Multiple Operations
• Money
• Time
• Fractions
• Shapes

Here is a sample game that I have found very effective when working with second graders:

Get Close to 100 is a great game for second graders. It helps children practice double-digit addition with special emphasis on understanding place value.

Get Close to 100

What you need:
- 2 – 4 players
- deck of cards, 10s removed
- Get “Close to 100″ recording sheets (below) for each player

The object of the game is to make a two-digit addition problem that comes as close to 100 as possible.

Shuffle cards and place them face down in a pile.

Player #1 turns over 4 cards and moves the cards around until he/she has created a two-digit addition problem whose sum will be as close to 100 as he/she can make it. You can go over 100. Player #1 records this problem on his/her recording sheet. Player #2 checks for addition accuracy.

Example: Player #1 draws a 4, a 7, a 2, and a 5. He/she moves the cards around until she/he decides that:

47 + 52 = 99 is the closest that he/she can get.

Player # 2 draws four cards and does the same.

The points for each round are the difference between their sum and 100.

Example: A sum of 95 scores 5 points and so does a sum of 105.

Players compare scores at the end of this first round. They put their four cards in a discard pile and player #2 begins first and turns over four more cards for the second round.

After six rounds, players total their points and the player with the lowest score wins.

Download the Close to 100 scoresheet as a Word document

Download the Close to 100 scoresheet as a pdf

Benefits of Using Math Games

• Meets Mathematics Standards
• Easily Linked to Any Mathematics Textbook
• Offers Multiple Assessment Opportunities
• Meets the Needs of Diverse Learners (UA)
• Supports Concept Development in Math
• Encourages Mathematical Reasoning
• Engaging (maintains interest)
• Repeatable (reuse often & sustain involvement
• Open-Ended (allows for multiple approaches & solutions)
• Easy to Prepare
• Easy to Vary for Extended Use & Differentiated Instruction
• Improves Basic Skills
• Enhances Number and Operation Sense
• Encourages Strategic Thinking
• Promotes Mathematical Communication
• Promotes Positive Attitudes Toward Math
• Encourages Parent Involvement

Using Math Games To Meet State Standards

Your state’s mathematics standards are intended as a statement of what students should learn, or what they should have accomplished, at particular stages of their schooling. The goal of every state’s math standards is to engage students in meaningful mathematical problem-solving experiences, build math knowledge and skills, increase students’ ability to communicate mathematically, and increase their desire to learn mathematics. Those are the goals for math games, too!

Specific content knowledge will vary according to the game students play and the connection to school-day learning and the state standards. A major goal for students in the elementary grades is to develop an understanding of the properties of and the relationships among numbers. One of the very effective ways teachers can reinforce the development and practice of number concepts, logical reasoning, and mathematical communication is by using math games. Games are great for targeted practice on whatever standard the children need to meet.

You will meet significantly more of your state’s grade- level mathematics standards by having your children play a game than will have been met by having them complete a ditto or a workbook page.

At all my teacher trainings, I begin by giving the teachers a quiz using a ditto with many three-digit addition problems. We then proceed to look at the mathematics standards, and the teachers decide which standards (or parts of each standard) were met by doing the ditto.

We then play a three-digit addition game, and, again, look at the standards. The teachers decide which standards were met by playing the game. Here are the results:

Standards Met

As you can see, not only did we meet more standards by playing the game, but many of the standards were met more fully! Many teachers are surprised at this result, but once they begin to use games in their classrooms to help their students learn and reinforce math skills, they are convinced.

Many people (teachers, administrators, and parents) think of games as being “fluff” – only to be used when recess has to be indoors, or for use the last 10 minutes in class on Fridays, or, occasionally, for small group center work. Once teachers begin to watch what happens as students play games, they almost always change their minds.

Here are California’s Math Standards:

Kindergarten Math Standards
First Grade Math Standards
Second Grade Math Standards
Third Grade Math Standards
Fourth Grade Math Standards
Fifth Grade Math Standards
Sixth Grade Math Standards