[crusaderteach]

Hi, everyone. I'm tutoring a boy going into 6th grade. We're going to start working on integer concepts. I'm wondering if anyone knows of any easy, 2-person games to help reinforce the concepts. I have limited resources, funds, and materials at this time. Any help would be great! Thanks.

[ConnieWI]

Go to this website and see if there is anything that meets your needs.

http://www.mathwire.com/index.html

[flteacher6]

THey see who has the highest hand...or finish the deck to see who has the highest score...red can be negative numbers and black positive...deal out "X" amount of cards have them add them up..then partner or group checks each other

We used this one in class this year. It is similar to war and can be done with a regular deck of cards (take out face cards), except the red cards are negative and the black cards are positive. You can do comparing integers by just flipping over one at a time, or you can add/subtract/multiply integers by having each person flip over two cards and find the sum/difference/product. I hope this makes sense. Also, if you do a web search for card games, you will find others. You could also do a variation with dice or dominoes if you feel like being creative.

Good luck!

[crusaderteach]

I had a session with him yesterday before getting these ideas, so I invented a game for us. We used 2 different colored dice and a number line. We put the dice in a cup and flipped it over, covering the dice. Without looking, he drew one and moved along the number line forward or backward according to the color. After a few rounds, I had him predict where he'd end up before counting it out. After a couple rounds of that, I changed it again. We rolled both dice and combined the roll. Without any instruction, he discovered the concept of zero pairs, and with further prompting began to understand how to use them to predict where he'd land next. It was fun to see that! Next week, I'll try out the card games you've suggested. Thanks!

Yes! All you need is a deck of cards, and you can play integer war! Red cards represent negative numbers (Ace = 1), and blacks represent positives. You can make the jack, queen, and king all equal to 10 (-10 if they are red), or you can make them 11, 12, 13, your choice!

You can also use cards to make up addition and subtraction problems!

I can't take credit for it though! I got the idea from another teacher!

If you try to only learn a "short cut" it doesn't make sense. The "rule" comes from knowing the "why" behind the concept. Try using a number line and integers as direction and distance. Or make opposite pairs with the numbers. The "rule" for "keeping the sign of the larger" might make more sense.

LOVE THE GAME! I teach 6th grade math and we teach integers 1st few weeks of school! I use this game all the time! THe kids love it and its very familiar to them! Great way to reinforce comparing and ordering as well!!!!