Win/Lose A Flat

Calculator Activities blackdouglas.com.au

This is one of the most powerful activities I have ever used.

It develops place value understanding and improves facility with operations on numbers.

However if it is only used once in a while the power of the activity will not show.

In my Year 2/3 classrooms, I used this activity 2 or 3 times each week for a term.

If the game is managed as described below, the teacher is released from class control and can use the time to study and record children's developing understandings and skills. For example, I always try to use dot dice rather than numeral dice. Then I soon establish those who can 'look' at the dice and know the number, those who who have to count all the spots to decide the number, and those who count on from the larger number showing on the two dice to decide the total. As time passes, I can see the children changing their strategies.

Materials

Boards about 28 x 38 cm which have columns headed FLATS, STICKS and MINIS, or have pictures of these pieces. Create your own or use this board and enlarge to A3.
Dice (2 per group of three children)
Calculators (2 per group of three children)
MAB 10 (referred to below as wood)

To play the game each group needs two dice, a collection of MAB 10, and a calculator for each Player. It works well if the children are grouped in threes. One person is the Dice Roller and the other two are the Players.
Win A Flat Game

Aim

The aim of the game is to continue the exchanging process described until one player collects a Flat and wins. The winner becomes the Dice Roller for the next round.

Procedure

Each Player begins with a zero on their calculator.
The Dice Roller rolls AND the dice must be left where they have fallen until all steps are completed.
Player A has to pick up minis equal to the total of the dice and place them in the correct column. However this does not complete the move. Player A must then exchange for the next size of wood if possible and press ... [+] [dice total] [=] ... on their calculator.
The Dice Roller controls the game and does not pick up the dice to roll for Player B until Player A's wood number and calculator number match.
The dice always tell the number of minis to pick up and the calculator always shows the progressive total for each player. This makes the game very easy for the teacher to supervise because, simply by looking at a player's wood collection and comparing it with their calculator number, the teacher can tell if the game is being played correctly.
Players take turns to continue the roll/collect minis/exchange/record on the calculator process until one player gathers sufficient wood to Win A Flat and become the Dice Roller.

The game can be stopped at any time and taken up again from the same place on another day. Players need only record their current wood collection in their journal and whose turn it is to play next.

Variation

Lose A Flat begins with both Players possessing a Flat and displaying 100 on their calculator. The dice then tell the number of Minis to put back. The winner in this case is the first one to put back all their wood. Clearly the first step forced on each player is to exchange their Flat for Sticks and then one Stick for Minis before they can put back.
What happens if the Flat is worth 1 in Win A Flat, instead of the Mini being worth 1? How do you use the calculator then? This gives the activity new life in Years 4+ as the children begin to learn about decimals.

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