iPad Apps for Number Sense

Calculator the Game (Free)

You and your calculator gang up to complete different levels. The Game where you'll manipulate numbers by adding them, subtracting them, converting them, reversing them, and stuffing them through portals. You also can change the language now for EL students. 

The best part is for students it helps build number sense and the order in which you can do the problems from front to back or the opposite way. Promotes number sense.

You can find the link here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/calculator-the-game/id1243055750?mt=8


Factris (Free)

Factris is a game just like Tetris, but you move each of the blocks in the number of factors of that number. For example, if you got the number 8, you would be able to get the block in a 1x8, 2x4, 4x2, or 8x1. Factris is a classic risk/reward high score game. Resize the dropping rectangles according to their factors and pack them together. Factris is challenging (there is no undo) and you need to pay close attention to the size of the rectangles coming next. Improve your numeracy, packing and knowledge of factors with Factris.

The best part is that students get use to factors of numbers, especially for primes.

You can find the link here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/factris/id1248555092?mt=8

Shape Fix (Free)

Shape Fix is a game where you need to identify the center of the larger shape and try to estimate. This is a good number sense game where students try guess the center.

You can find the link here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/shape-fix/id1227483776?mt=8

License Plate Combinations

When we come back from winter break we normally start our probability and statistics unit. I normally take a week for probability and a week for statistics which normally melts into three weeks. I've always thought nothing of changing it, but during winter break Dan Meyer posted "Plates Without States"  Since we were going over permutations and combinations I thought this would be an excellent way to get students thinking about how many different combinations there are in license plates and why they make them like that.

To start the lesson I had students go through Dan Meyer State-Plate Game.  Students were definitely engaged and loved playing against each other in their groups.

Next we talked about license plates and I separated it from combinations and permutations.

I gave all of the students a blank license plate and a card. The card had a name of a city or state and a population that students had to take in consideration.

Here are some of the license plates that students were working on.

When students were done with their license plates, they took a picture of their license plate and put it on SeeSaw. The last part they had to do was comment on three others the number of different combinations that they had with their license plate.

Here were a few students figuring out and commenting on other students post.

I like this activity much more and students realized how license plates play a role in local governments and how the population of an area can control the different license plates possible.

I posted almost all of them in the back of my room here are a bunch of different ones that are posted.

Codename: Numbers

The 2016 game of the year was Codenames, but for Christmas my wife and I were given Codenames Pictures, which is an equally awesome game. The basic gameplay is that you have a partner or a group where one person gives a one word clue and a number which correlates to how many it is suppose to cover, the first one to get them all wins.  There are neutral ones and one is an assassin which ends the game.

My thought: How cool would this be if you did this with numbers.

If I made board pieces that had a bunch of different numbers, students would use one word such as: even, odd, cubic, etc... this game would help build number sense.  Since you could play it with groups of 4 it would be a great station activity.

More to come with actual student gameplay.