If you have a set of craft sticks, a marker and a cute little apple toy (or something similar) I have an engaging math warm up for your learners! It will help them compare numbers and order them.
Play it before you main small group lesson, whole class lesson or at the end of your table-time to review and practice skills you've taught.
You need:
- craft sticks - write numbers on them with a marker in the range your students are learning - e.g. numbers 1-20
- soft toy - I used an apple
To play:
- Shuffle the sticks and distribute them to your small group of learners
- On 'go' they flip their sticks, look at the numbers and put them into order - lowest to highest numbers, or highest to lowest
- The student who first orders their sticks 'grabs' the apple
- Encourage students to check the accuracy of the winning set
- Put the apple back in the middle, re-distribute the sticks and play again
If you do not have an apple, you can play with any other toy or novelty - its purpose is simply to add an element of novelty and to identify a winner. Perhaps a fox, wolf or a dragon might work for you!