Math Activity to Teach Up/Down Over 10: Handful of Dice

Math Game for Addition & Subtraction: Handful of Dice

Math Strategy: Up/Down over 10
Math Strand: Number Sense and Numeration

Overview:
This game has many extensions and adaptations to suit your students' needs. With making pairs of 10, there are limited choices which let them focus on that amount. Then, by changing the number it allows students to practice decomposing other numbers of varying amounts. You can also change the amount of dice being used for each number. For example, you could choose the number 15 and have students use 2,3 or 4 dice to decompose it into. This is an excellent activity to support part-whole understanding. It also requires very little materials and could be played with 2-4 players.

* It could also be adapted for multiplication by giving a larger number, such as 24 and asking students to find pairs of numbers that when multiplied = 24.


How this activity supports learning:
This game helps students understand that a number can be decomposed into smaller numbers. For example, to add 7 + 5, a child may use the up over 10 strategy and take 3 from the 5 and add it to the 7 to make 10, plus the remaining 2 = 12.



Composing and decomposing small sets of objects can allow young students to see the whole group as well as the subsets that created the whole

Students need a strong understanding of part-whole relationships in order to use mental mathematics strategies to add, subtract, multiply and divide.

Students who are able to fluently decompose quantities and then compose quantities are able to adapt their calculations to different sets of numbers.


Where to next?
If a student is having difficulty decomposing, reduce the quantity of objects the student is using. Students may also benefit from having physical tools they can refer to, such as snap cubes or counters. For example, if the student is decomposing 5, have the, demonstrate the two parts with a 2 and 3 then take another 5 blocks and do it again with different numbers. You can ask if they are able to decompose it into other parts, such as 3 or 4.

If a student is fluent and confident with decomposing, move towards using larger numbers and having students explain their proof, “How do you know you have found all the ways to decompose this number?”

You can also focus on the next strategies, which would be splitting, where numbers are split into their place value to make them easier to add or subtract.