Last week, we were focusing on adding and subtracting integers. If you remember, I wrote a post about how I got the students to understand the process here, but they really seemed to need a bit more this year. So after scouring the internet, I found this really fun game that cemented the idea for them. If you click here, you can get all the templates for FREE. Now, let me explain the game to you. This was played in pairs. The students were each given a game board and recording sheet to share between the two. They then used some sort of marker (paper clips are the perfect size for this, but my students also used pieces of paper or eraser) Player 1 rolled the die. That told them how many spaces to move either up (if even) or down (if odd). Starting with a point total of 20 points each, the students then set up an addition problem and added their point total with the number they landed on. For example, if the student rolled a 6, that meant they moved up 6 spaces. It put them on +2 (let's say) The student would add 20 + 2 for 22 total points. The next move, that player rolled a 5. They had to move down 5 spaces to put them on -3. The student then added 22 + (-3) for a total of 19. The first player to 100 points is the winner. The kids LOVED it! They were literally cheering when they got positive point totals. It was fun! One thing that I would caution is that my students wanted to add the number they rolled instead of where they landed. So if they rolled a 2, they wanted to add 2. If they rolled a 1 they wanted to add (-1). When I noticed that, I had to redirect the entire class and put us all back on track. But they finally understood and we were on our way. This game is now in my "May Do" center for Math Workshop. They are so happy :)