Triple addition

Summary

A fun game for students to practise adding three 1-digit numbers.

Curriculum content

• Adding three 1-digit numbers

Materials

Card sets

• 1 set of Mathletics number cards 0 to 20 0-20

Concrete

• Manipulatives and resources to support calculations

How to play

Set up

1. Arrange students into pairs.
2. Shuffle or mix up the cards and place them face down in a pile.

Rules

1. Each player turns over 3 cards and uses support materials or mental strategies to find their total.
2. Players confirm the totals of the other players.
3. The winner of each round is the player with the highest total. They get to keep their 3 cards.
4. The other player returns their cards to the bottom of the pile.
5. Continue playing until there are not enough cards for both players to pick up 3.
6. The winner is the player with the most cards at the end of the game.

Variations

CHANGE it down

• Reduce number range to 1-digit only (with 2 decks).
• Get students to select 2 cards instead of 3.

What to look for

• Look for students using efficient addition strategies such as bridging through 10, finding compatible pairs, using near doubles and partitioning and repartitioning numbers where appropriate.