Go Fish Roman Numerals

Now we used the cards with the cute little fish on them for the game they were intended...GO FISH!

 Here is Diana's hand. She had asked Douglas for a 3 and received one. So she had her first match.

 Wesley is asking for a card. We played that if you were holding the Roman Numeral card you could simple state the number you needed to make the match. However, if you were holding the number and wanted a Roman Numeral you had to state how it would appear using I, V and X's. For example, Wesley requested XII since he had the 12 card in his hand.

Of course, the fun comes if the person does not have the card you request and says, "Go Fish!" Then you get to draw from the pond of cards in the center of play.

Douglas played with Wesley and Diana. We had a fun time.

Roman Numeral Search

We call it SEARCH, but this game is known by other names, as well....Concentration and Memory.

 We began with only 10 cards - the 1 - 5 and their Roman Numeral matches.

 Ladies first...so Diana started and selected two cards which were not a match.

 Wesley went next and made a match with the 5.

 Later Diana made her first match.

Then we tried the game with all 24 cards (1-12 and the matching Roman Numerals).

 We put the numbers to one side and the Roman Numerals to the other in an attempt to make it a little easier for Diana.

 You can see she is a little overwhelmed with the number of cards.

So...Douglas stepped in and took her place.

 Douglas matches the 8.

Wesley matches the 3.

It was a much better game and the boys both enjoyed it. Wesley got more practice.

Roman Numeral Match

We introduced Diana,4, to Roman Numerals today. She caught on fairly quickly. Wesley needed the quick review and he remembered them all.

The Cards

The cards were made to be played for a Go Fish game, which is why the cute little fish is on each card. The deck consists of 24 cards: 1 - 12 in both Roman and Arabic numerals.

 First we set out the 1-12 cards. The Roman Numeral cards were shuffled and up in a stack. Diana drew cards and handed them to Wesley to place above the correct number.

 Wesley would state the number as he placed the Roman Numeral cards. He would also explain each card/number to Diana. This gave him good review and continued Diana's introduction to Roman Numerals.

 Activity finished...

Now Diana gets a turn.

 Wesley handed her one card at a time and she place the number below the correct Roman Numeral. This was quite easy, but it gave her some confidence.

Next we did the first activity again with both children taking turns.

 Diana was excited to get one she knew.

...and she knew right where to put it.

We had fun. Wesley got some good review and Diana got her first introduction to Roman Numerals.

The Alligator Game - Greater or Less Than

To compare decimals, fractions & percent

However...it would be great for any skill that requires comparing of numbers...

I used a blue file folder, added a picture of an alligator, and white circle stickers as a path. On the path spaces I wrote the signs for greater than, less than, and equals.

WHY AN ALLIGATOR? Our math book should a cute little bird with its open mouth. The greater than or less than sign was the birds mouth.

The open end of the greater than or less than sign is always towards the larger number. However, the year I made this I had a large percent of boys in my class and when I mentioned an alligator's open mouth, I got their attention...LOL...so the alligator on our gameboard!

To play, a player will draw a card, decide the relationship of the first number to the second and move to the next space with the appropriate symbol.

The cards have things like: .4 ___ .04, .71 _____.8, etc...for
decimal practice.

Another set of cards I made had: 3/4 ____ 3/12, 4/6
___2/3, etc. for fractions.

This board could be used for so many other math skills as well. For example:

1 week ______ 8 days

17 ounces _____ 1 pound

3.75 ____ 3 3/4

1.5 ____ 150%

IV ______ X

5 + 4 ______ 3 + 6

59 - 17 _____ 47 - 5

Or even for other classes:

Population of Texas _____Population of Wisconsin

Length of robin ______ length of gold finch

Revolutionary War ______ Civil War (The children had the open end to the later date.) This is a great way to help them get events in order without having to necessarily remember exact dates. So they would read their card as "Revolutionary War was earlier or before (rather than later than or after) the Civil War.


ANSWER KEY: To make it so children could play without a parent/teacher, provide an answer key. However, I preferred to just write the correct answer on the reverse of the question card. The question cards were in the pile, face up. After a child gave the response, the card could be turned over to verify the answer. This saves from lost answer keys, and is a much easier way of checking. 

There is a cute little song on YouTube that can be used when introducing Greater Than/Less Than. Check out the Number Eating Alligator Song.

Roman Numeral Bingo

A game all ages can play!

Bingo is a game that is fun for all ages. It gives all players the same chance to win. Any skill can turn bingo into a fun educational game for learning, drill, or review.

I first made this game many years ago for my own children to play. Later it was used in the classroom. Now I am enjoying it with my grandchildren.

Charles playing Roman Numeral Bingo

I got the game out again because Charles, 7, has been working with Roman numerals.

Charles looks for the number on his card.

The calling cards show a Roman numeral. I usually ask Charles what number it is as he needs the most drill.

A calling card.

At times I will ask Douglas what the answer is, but since he is 9, he knows them quite well. However, this does give him a bit of review and lets me know that he still remembers them well.

Douglas has a nearly filled card.



A playing card

The playing cards have the numbers on them in a random fashion. Each card is different. The cards do not all have the same numbers. In this way we can play "black out" and not all win at the same time.

We used the game to begin showing Wesley what some of the letters represented and then helped him figure out a few of the cards.

Wesley works on filling his card.

Diana, 4, gets some practice reading numbers...


Diana, 4, plays along.

 Even though he was just beginning to learn to read Roman numerals, Wesley was able to win the game today. Bingo is a great equalizer!

Check out the fun we had when we made Roman Numeral Coins 

Here is a link to Roman Numeral Oh Nuts! A fun card game for drilling Roman numerals.



Roman Numeral Oh Nuts!

Usually we play Oh Nuts! with a gameboard. You can see one and how we use a board here:

http://www.angelfire.com/wi2/GamesForLearning/gamepages/ohnuts.html

However, we just played it as a card game and it was a hit with the boys. They have enjoyed our time with Roman Numerals. I introduced Roman Numerals to Charles with Fun with Roman Numerals by David Adler. It caught his attention right away because the illustrations show Roman soldiers. We also made some Roman Numeral coins which I will blog about in another post.

To Make: Two sets of cards are needed. On the first set (cut 2x2) I stamped I, V, X, L, C, D and M....about 12 or so of each. I had a perfect stamp set, but they could easily be hand written or printed on the computer for those of you that can do that. You also need a little bar card if you are going to do numbers like 5,000 or 10,000 which we did.

First set of cards - Roman Numeral Cards

NOTE: I did each of the Roman Numerals on a different color of card stock so they would be easy to sort.

Second set of cards - The number cards

The second set (2X3) has numbers on it (a wide variety of numbers...depending on how high you are working with Roman Numerals). These cards I just hand wrote. I could have used another stamp set, but didn't even think of it at the time...LOL. I also wrote the Roman Numeral answer in small letters at the bottom of the card. Also...and this is what makes the game fun...about 1/3 of the cards need no number, but the words OH NUTS! written on them. . 

Cards set up for play when two children play alone.

To Play: I was the dealer. The kids could play alone, but they always enjoy it more if I am involved. When the children play alone, one child must draw the card for the other players since the answers are on the front of the cards.

Douglas draws and reads a card for Charles.

Charles went first. (NOTE we changed the rules some as we went along. Never be afraid to adjust things to make the play more fun.) I had shuffled the number cards and the Roman Numeral cards were in separate piles on the floor in front of the boys.

Douglas and Charles

The player has 2 choices as he starts his turn. He may take the top number card or PASS and take the next card. If the card has a number on it he uses the Roman Numeral cards to make the number. If correct, he collects the number card to his temporary pile. Now he can go again IF he wishes to. He takes the next card (or says PASS and then he must take the second card). He then again, makes the number... 

Douglas draws an Oh Nuts! card for Charles

...UNLESS it is an OH NUTS! card. If at anytime he chooses an Oh Nuts! card, he must forfeit all cards in his temporary save pile.

Poor Charles!

However, at any time after collecting a card, a player may choose to end his turn and move all cards in his temporary save pile to a permanent save pile (these cards cannot be lost). Then the turn passes to the next player.

The player with the most cards in his permanent save pile is the winner. Because of the luck of the game, Charles, 7, who is just learning Roman Numerals, was the winner over Douglas, 9, who knows them quite well.

NOTE: Because Charles is just learning we often helped him a little as he was making his Roman Numerals. Normally, a wrong answer would also cause a player to forfeit any cards in his temporary pile and end his turn, but we choose not to use this rule....at least not yet.

Check out the Roman Numeral Coins we made.