Learning Multiplication with Playing Cards

This is a fun game for teachers to incorporate into their teaching lessons and it is fun because of the partial element of surprise. Kids love surprises and the best part of this game is that the students will have even more fun learning because they won’t even realize they are in class. This will make learning how to multiply even less of a hassle for teachers.
What you will need:
Deck of cards per 3 players at a time- average class size 30-35 (12 decks)
The  students are first put into groups of 3. There are 2 players that compete against each other. The third player in each group is the person who controls the dealing of the cards. The dealer takes two cards from the deck and places them face down. Then once both players are ready, the dealer flips over the cards. The students try to multiply the two cards that are exposed. Whoever answers correctly keeps the cards. The cards then have a point system. If the student answers incorrectly then the other student has a chance to guess the correct answer. If the student answers correctly then he/she obtains the cards. If the student does not know the answer or does not answer correctly, then no one obtains the cards/points. Therefore, whoever has the most cards at the end of the game is the person that wins.
Teachers can also continue playing this game by taking each winner from each group and have the best of the best compete against each other to find out who knows how to multiply the best. The winner of the entire class can then be assigned to some special task or treat.
Tips:
To make the game more student centered you can buy children’s playing cards that could be a favorite character of the students, or a theme of a popular kids movie.
To make this game even harder or for students who are older you can add
one more card to the original 2 card format. Therefore, instead of students having to multiply 2 cards, they would have to multiply 3 cards. This would make this a lot more challenging and really test the multiplication skills.
Teachers can also have the students make up a sentence that incorporates the answer of the two cards. This exercise will encourage them to learn how to multiply – and, stimulate their creativity as well.

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Point System for Multiplication Tables

You can teach the students a fun activity incorporating multiplication times-tables with this inquisitive game that includes the concept of a point system. Who doesn’t love a little competition? I think just about everyone, including children. So with that in mind how about teaching them a little about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as well?
Did you know that most people in general tend to do better with any activity when they are competing against someone else? One great way to accomplish this is to incorporate a technique through a fun and stimulating school activity.  The way that this game works is that each student is given different times-tables problems.
Each problem is given a certain point amount. For each correctly solved problem that the student has correct, they are assigned the amount of points associated with that problem.  For example, 1×1=1, they would be given 1 point; 2X2=4, and so on. If the student answers the problem incorrectly, they do not gain any points.  As a matter of fact, they lose the amount of points that correspond to the problem they answered incorrectly. This technique gets the children even more interested in learning multiplication tables as well as answering the problems correctly. It will also get them motivated to correctly answer the equations, especially those with the higher numbers so they can accumulate more points.
At the end of the assignment each student’s score is added up and the person with the most correct problems, as well as the most points is designated as the winner. If there is more then one winner, then you can do a sudden death match and have each player compete against each other until there is a winner. Or you can reward both of them with the title of “Multiplication Masters” and they can be the designated team leaders when you play this game another time.
You can also add even more fun to this game by breaking the class up into teams and assigning 5 players to each team. This allows the students a chance to interact with each other and learn the value of teamwork, plus for those students that are struggling they will be able to work with other students that can help them out.
By incorporating this fun game into your teaching plan, learning multiplication tables will be a lot more fun for kids, plus they will benefit from working with other students. They will also learn a valuable lesson that integrates the concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

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Tic Tac Toe and Times Tables

We as adults play board games all the time. They are a way to break free from the everyday mundane tasks and allow us to enjoy some quality leisure time with the people we enjoy spending time with. The same philosophy goes for students. Students day in and day out are always learning new material so by incorporating a fun game into their learning activity will not only make time move a lot quicker, but the children will also be engaged as well. One game in particular that you can tie into your lesson plan could be Tic Tac Toe with times tables.
Instructions:
Tic Tac Toe with times tables is a very simple yet motivational game for students.
1. The teacher separates the classroom into two big groups – one group of students is called the X’s and the other group is referred to as the O’s.
2. One person from each X and O group is called up to the board and given a pen.
3. When the students are ready, the teacher then says the multiplication table problem that needs to be solved. The student who answers correctly and writes the correct answer on the board is also awarded the X or O (depending on what team they are on) to place on the grid on the board.
4. Once the first person has gone up to the board, the process is repeated until everyone has had a turn. This is used as not only a score board, but to see which side of the classroom can successfully complete a full row of X’s or O’s.
Tips:
It doesn’t have to end there. If the kids really get into this game, you don’t have to announce a winner at the end of the first lesson. You can let them know that you are keeping track of who is winning and continue playing week to week. You can even have them play twice a week. This will keep them excited about each time they play and they will know that if their team didn’t do well on the first lesson they still have a chance to win the next time around.
You can also reward the students with the most correct answers by allowing each student to be the team captain. If there are more than two students, you can have them take turns until everyone is able to be the team captain.
To make this game even more interesting you can reward the students with a variety of treats. A good idea would be to purchase candies that are circular and X-shaped. One possibility is sour apple rings for O’s and gummy worms for X’s.
After trying this, you will see that Tic Tac Toe with times tables is a very simple and yet, still motivational game.

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