Sharing a Math Game

I'm not sure this is my favorite math game, but it's one I don't think I've seen online before (though I could be wrong about that).  I made it about three years ago and I've used it once or twice a year since then.  The theme today on The Teacher's Chair is to share our best games, so here you go! 

Materials:

• One game board per pair of students
• One game token per student
• One deck of question cards per pair
• Scrap paper or whiteboards with markers
• Optional: laminate the game boards or place them in page protectors/Smart Pal Sleeves

Put students in pairs and give them some question cards.  Divide the answers into two easy-to-discern categories.  Try to have close to equal amounts of each of the types of answers.  Some ideas:

• Positive and negative
• Greater than a given number and less than that number (make sure the number itself isn't an answer)
• Congruent or not (geometry SAS, SSS, etc)
• Increasing or decreasing on a given interval
• Function or not

The students take turns doing a problem and explaining their reasoning to their partner.  When both partners agree with the answer, the player who drew the card moves his marker up or down based on the key you established with the class.   The key here is that there is collaboration and mathematical discourse which is what makes this game work for me.  It is also adaptable to almost any content and certainly any grade level.  It's also pretty quick, so it would work well even if you have a short class period. 

Here's the game board. 



Mathematically yours,
Miss B