“My kids play games all 
                   day!”
   
   FUN way to practice math concepts
   
   Hands on
   
   Opportunity for differentiation
   
   Promotes critical thinking and strategizing
   
   Self-directed exploration
   
   Social skills
   
   Speaking and listening about math
   
   Opportunity for assessment 
   
   Build on concepts as games evolve
   Games engage students in many ways but it is important to 
   understand that it is only through repeated experience of playing a 
   game that students begin to grasp some of the important ideas and 
   skills embodied in the game.
       Compare (a.k.a. war)
  Materials: Primary Number Cards (1-10)
  Number of Players: 2 (can be played with 3)
  How to Play:
  
   Entire deck is dealt and each player places their 
   cards in a pile facedown 
  
   Players count to three and both flip over their top 
   card
  
   Player with the highest card  says “me” and gets to 
   keep both cards
  
   Game is over when the deck runs out
  Differentiation across the 
             grades
  
   Removing picture support from number cards
  
   Playing with numbers through 20
  
   Double Compare (players each flip over 2 
   cards-player with highest total wins)
  
   Students record equations of their wins
  
   Students record using <, =, >
   
 What is the 
 math in this 
   game?
                          What’s the math?
                                                                                                           Questions to ask your child 
        Number sense                                                                                        Questions to ask your child 
                                                                                                                       while playing:
                                                                                                                      while playing:
        Comparing numbers
                                                                                                        •
        Developing language for comparing quantities                                                     • How do you know which 
                                                                                                           How do you know which 
                                                                                                         number is larger?
                                                                                                        number is larger?
        Fact fluency
                                                                                                         • What did you do to figure 
                                                                                                         • What did you do to figure 
       
        Addition                                                                                         that out?
                                                                                                         that out?
        
                                                     Common Core State Standards
                                                                           st                                               nd
                   Kindergarten                                          1  Grade                                         2  Grade
       K.CC.6  Identify whether the number of            1.OA.3  Apply properties of operations as         2.OA.2  Fluently add an subtract within 20 
       objects in one group is greater than, less        strategies to add and subtract.                   using mental strategies.
       than, or equal to the number of objects in 
       another group, e.g., by using matching and        1.OA.6  Add and subtract within 20,               2.NBT.4  Compare two three-digit numbers 
       counting strategies.                              demonstrating fluency for addition and            based on meanings of the hundreds, tens, 
                                                         subtraction within 10.                            and ones digits, using >, =, and < symbols 
       K.CC.7  Compare two numbers between 1                                                               to record the results of comparisons
       and 10 presented as written numerals              1.NBT.3  Compare two two digit numbers 
       K.OA.3  Decompose numbers less than or            based on meanings of the tens and ones 
       equal to 10 into pairs in more than one way,      digits, recording the results of 
       e.g., by using objects or drawings, and           comparisons with the symbols >, =, and <.
       record each decomposition by a drawing or 
       equation (e.g., 5 = 2 + 3 and 5 = 4 + 1).
        
       K.OA.5  Fluently add and subtract within 5