Number guess activity

Posted on by

Judy Hansen

First grade teacher (retired), Pipestone, MN

Goal: To help children develop an understanding of the order of numbers and to learn about the process of elimination.

Comparing numbers and determining whether a number is greater or less than another number seems to be very difficult for some young students understand. Here is a fun and engaging way to help with these concepts.

  1. Choose a range of numbers for this activity that is appropriate for the students. For kindergarteners, 1 through 10 is appropriate; first graders and older children can use 0 through 20 or more.
  2. Each player needs a number line strip that covers his or her range of numbers.  numbers
  3. The leader chooses a secret number from the number line.
  4. The goal is for the players to guess the secret number in as few tries as possible.
  5. The players take turns guessing.
  6. The leader gives a clue response of “too large” or “too small” for each incorrect guess.
  7. The players can use manipulative and place markers of one color on numbers that are too small and markers of another color on numbers that are too large.   This will help them narrow the field of possible solutions.
  8. The player who determines the correct number becomes the next leader and the game goes on.

Source:

Family Math by Jean Kerr Stenmark, Virginia Thompson, and Ruth Cossey.

Berkeley, CA : Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, c1986.