The Secret Card

Subjects

Mathematics
--Applied Math

Grade

K-2
3-5

Brief Description

This simple game reinforces the concepts of greater than and less than.

Objectives

Students will

follow the rules of the game.
correctly use the responses greater than and less than.

Keywords

game, card game, math game, greater than, less than

Materials Needed

decks of playing cards (A deck of cards is needed for every five students who will play the game. Each student will receive a grouping of cards numbered 1 (ace) through 10; each deck will yield five sets of cards numbered 1 (ace) through 10.
pencil and paper (for scorekeeping)

Lesson Plan

This game will reinforce the concepts of greater than" and less than" with numbers 1 to 10.

Before the Game You will need a deck of playing cards for every five students in your class. Provide each student with a set of ten playing cards numbered 1 (ace) through 10.

Playing the Game
Arrange students into pairs. Each student will have a set of ten playing cards numbered 1 (ace) through 10.

Player 1 will secretly" select from his/her hand one of the ten cards and place it face down on the desk or table.
Player 2 will guess what the secret card" is (for example, the 6" card), remove that card from his/her own hand, and place it face up on the table as s/he asks, Is the secret card a 6?"
If Player 1s secret card was a 6, s/he turns over the card on the table and says, Yes, the secret card is a 6." Player 2 scores a point.
If Player 1s secret card was not a 6, s/he says, The secret card is greater than 6."
Player 2 makes a second guess: Is the secret card a 9?"
If Player 1s secret card was a 9, s/he turns over the card on the table and says, Yes, the secret card is a 9." Player 2 scores 2 points because s/he guessed the secret card on his/her second guess.
If Player 1s secret card was not a 9, s/he says, The secret card is less than 9."
Player 2 makes a third guess: Is the secret card an 8?"
If Player 1s secret card was an 8, s/he turns over the card on the table and says, Yes, the secret card is an 8." Player 2 scores 3 points because s/he guessed the secret card on his/her third guess.
If Player 1s secret card was not an 8, s/he says, The secret card is less than 8."
Player 2 makes a fourth guess: Is the secret card a 7?"
As Player 1 turns over the card on the table, s/he says Yes, the secret card is a 7." Player 2 scores 4 points because s/he guessed the secret card on his/her fourth guess.
Record the 4 points for Player 2.

Students will make additional guesses until they are able to narrow down the exact number on the secret card. Award a number of points equal to the number of guesses it takes to guess the correct number.

Then have players reverse their roles. Player 2 picks out the secret card" and Player 1 tries to guess what it is by picking cards from his/her hand and asking questions.

Play continues until a predetermined number of rounds is over or time runs out. The player with the fewest points is the winner because s/he took the fewest guesses to determine which card was the secret card.

Assessment

Assess students based on their understanding of the rules, their use of the responses greater than and less than, and their fair play.

Lesson Plan Source

EducationWorld.com

Submitted By

Gary Hopkins

National Standards

MATHEMATICS: Number and Operations
GRADES Pre-K - 2
NM-NUM.PK-2.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
GRADES 3 - 5
NM-NUM.3-5.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems

MATHEMATICS: Algebra
GRADES K - 4
NM-ALG.PK-2.1 Understand Patterns, Relations, and Functions
GRADES 3 - 5
NM-ALG.3-5.1 Understand Patterns, Relations, and Functions

MATHEMATICS: Communications
GRADES Pre-K - 12
NM-COMM.PK-12.2 Communicate Their Mathematical Thinking Coherently and Clearly to Peers, Teachers, and Others
NM-COMM.PK-12.3 Analyze and Evaluate the Mathematical Thinking and Strategies of Others
NM-COMM.PK-12.4 Use the Language of Mathematics to Express Mathematical Ideas Precisely