Comparing: Introduction (Pre K-2)

Things in the Room

For this game, you each think of something in the room, such as windows, plants, chairs, pencils, doors, and then the student decides which there is more or less of. When the answer is not obvious, Unifix cubes can be used to count the items that you cannot hold, in a one-on-one correspondence.

Comparing Names

The student writes his name on a sheet of graph paper and then writes the names of his family members or friends in the next rows. Now compare the names. Who has more letters in their name? Who has less? Who has the same? How many more or less letters do each of the names have?

Height Records

Periodically measure everyone in the family's height and compare the measurements to each other's and to their own previous measurements. 

Body Measurements

Using just a length of yarn or string, students measure and compare the length or circumference of various parts of their bodies. They also compare their own measurements with others. The results might surprise you! I was surprised at how many excited exclamations could be heard, such as, "Look, this is how long it is from head to by belly button!"

See-Saw

Comparisons could be made on a See-Saw. Who weighs more? Who weighs less? What two people weight the same as one heavier person? Can you make estimates and check them?

source: Mathematics Their Way, Mary Baratta-Lorton

Number Crunching {Greater Than/Less Than} Alligator

 We made a little paper alligator to help learn greater than/less than concept.
On one side, I outlined his mouth and tail to show the math symbols.

I left the other side unmarked.

 I couldn't find my number tiles, so I quickly wrote up some number cards on index cards cut in half. I shuffled them into a pile and he pick two cards for each side and arranged them to make two numbers to compare.

And our number crunching alligator always went for the greater number.

Not so hard for him to apply that picture to the traditional greater than (>) and less than (<) symbols.

Quentin compared numbers on a number line.
James compared fractions.

Math Games Fit For A King

The Counting House Game at Fairy Dust Teaching

When I saw these lovely math games at Fairy Dust Teaching, I knew that my youngest son would love them. They excite the imagination as well as make an interesting way of practicing math skills. 

To make the boards, we used one 12 x 12 sheet of scrapbook paper per board, a number grid and anything you would like to decorate your board. I used a piece of foam to make the crown. To play the games you will also need a die (we used a 10-sided die for the 100 grid, but Sally at Fairy Dust Teaching, used a 6-sided die for her 20 and 30 grids) and glass counting gems or pennies. Sally also uses peg people.

The Counting House
To play: The child roll a die and counts out this amount of gems and places them on the counting grid. He must count the numbers on the grid as each additional amount of gems are added, until he gets to his final number on the grid. But first, before he plays, tell him a story. Sally has created a lovely story about Mr. Thirty to go with her 30-board. I wanted to use a 100's board, so I created a different story.

Once upon a time there was a King who needed to collect the yearly taxes from his subjects as harvest season had just now ended . So he sent out his men to search the kingdom high and low to find all of the people in the kingdom. They found cottages amid the wood, and houses along the streams. They found dwellings in a little town and those all alone. At each place they collected the taxes and took them to the king's counting house. The people were expecting this because this happened every year this time and the king expected to get 100 coins for that is what he brought in each year. Please check for the King - roll the King's royal dice to see how many coins are collected at each house and fill the Hundred Counting House.

Another variation for older students is for them to keep track of their die rolls and make a very large addition equation.

War of The Kingdoms
You need as many game boards as players, with a minimum of two boards/players. Each game board is a kingdom. The player is the King or Queen of that Kingdom.

To Play: This is a game is just like the The Counting House except  that each player rolls the dice on his turn and then puts that number of markers down on his board. The first player to fill their number board, is the Kingdom that wins!

Joining Kingdoms
This game takes a different board. This board can be a castle or a crown shape, with two circles or squares on it, one large, and one small and a place in which numbers can be put above the boxes. It also requires gems, a 10-sided die (or six, if you wish) and number cards or tiles.

To play:
Roll a die twice to get two different numbers that you will count out markers into the circles on the game board using the "jewels." The number that is less goes into King Less' smaller circle and the number that is more goes into the King More's bigger circle. How many are there when they share and join their jewels together? Next, the child must find that number in the number cards and put it on the joined square. But first before you play, here is my version of the background story (Sally has another version.)

Once upon a time there lived a king who was small in stature (but large in wisdom)  King named King Less and a king who was very tall and broad (but not so bright) named King More. King More kept taking over more and more land and yet he had trouble keeping track of it because he wasn't very bright. King Less kept losing provinces to King More and he kingdom had shrunk to a very small one indeed. His kingdom was a happy one, however, because he was kind and managed his kingdom well.  One day, as King More was taking over more villages to his kingdom, he saw that the people in King Less' kingdom were much happier than in his own so he decided to go to the King Less to find out how he could be have more happy kingdom. King Less told him, "I will teach you the secret to having a happy kingdom if you can help me defend my kingdom from invaders on all sides - then we both will have more!"  That day King Less and King More joined their kingdoms and became co-rulers. King Less, although he was small and brought less land to their union, used his wisdom to run the kingdom within, while King More used his strength and the wealth of all his land to defend the boarders of their kingdom. Together they had a very happy and strong kingdom.

Laminate boards for durability.  These games should be played with adult supervision and are intended for children 5 years old or older as they use small pieces on the game boards.  Please adjust for safety if you are making these for younger children.

Pin It

Math Games: Handfuls

In advance, print out these cards or make up cards that say "more' and "less."

Using a large pile of counters of two colors (we used chips), have your students each take a group of them. Flip over a card and have them estimate which color matches the card. Then let them prove it by counting, if they need to. 

Using Unifix Cubes: Stack and Tell

This activity requires Unifix cubes or some other sort of interlocking colored blocks, such as Legos. Each student snaps a train of cubes together. They all have to choose a different number. Then, using more and less cards, determine which stack is either more or less. The student's stack that matches the card wins that round. It is good for them to experience less being the winning hand as we so often think that to win one must have more. Using "0" adds an interesting dimension to the game.


source: 

• Mathematics Their Way, Mary Baratta-Lorton