Fact Fluency Games Without Technology

 

I love having the students play games on line but I don't always have that option.  The internet at my school is so-so at best and if we have school wide testing, no one other than the testers can be on, otherwise they get kicked off quickly and frequently.  So I have several games I keep handy to have students play.  

One of my favorites is Bingo.  I use it to help students practice their multiplication and division facts, order of operations, fractions, and everything else but today I'm focusing on fact fluency.

I hand out blank bingo cards and have students write on either products if they practice multiplication or possible answers for division depending what I"m doing.  I let them chose the numbers they wanted.  Then I call out the problem like 7 x 8 and they have to come up with the answer of 56 and then cross out the answer.  I might go with 6 divided by 6 = and they have to come up with the answer of 1 and cross it out.  Yes some problems may have the same answers such as 6 x 6 or 9 x 4 so they might find the number is already crossed out but that has never been a problem.

Then there is checkers fact fluency where you place mathematical problems on all the white or all the black squares.  All pieces follow the normal rules for movement except the student must give the correct answer for the problem to land on that square. The winner is the one who has captured all the other pieces.

What about a match game with factors and answers on separate squares and you have to match them up.  For instance one card might have 8 and another card would have 4 x 2 and a third card would have 8 x 1. All three would match up because 8 equals the other two.  This could be done for any of the operations. A variation of this is to create a puzzle with answers and problems with squares.  The squares have a problem or answer around the sides so students match the problem with the answer on a different square. 

The photo shows how it might be set up for two squares. One is an edge piece and the other is a middle piece.  Students have to match the equation with the answer till it done.  It's like a jigsaw puzzle and requires some thought.

The last suggestion is for a fact search.  In this you create a grid filled with the numbers that make up factors so that students fill in the appropriate signs to make it true.  They might see 7. 8.  5. 6 and rewrite it as 7 x 8 = 56.  These are easy to find online such as this web site.  This is a nice way to have students practice it.  

This is just a few suggestions for things to do.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a good day.