Box Cars and

One-Eyed Jacks
3rd - 5th Grade Math Games
Fact Fluency & Place Value
Presented by

Jane and John Felling

Killeen Texas, June 2014

Email:

jane@boxcarsandoneeyedjacks.com

Email:

john@boxcarsandoneeyedjacks.com

Orders / Support Documents / Videos

boxcarsandoneeyedjacks.com
Phone: 780-440-6284

Toll Free: 1-866-342-3386

Teaching Tips from Box Cars And One-Eyed Jacks

Box Cars And One-Eyed Jacks Inc.

Organizing Your Cards & Card Management

Use three large buckets (1 gallon or 4 liter each). Gather a lot of decks of cards approximately 1 deck per
student but 1 deck per 3 students is a good start (purchase, donated, brought from home). The joke "not playing
with a full deck" applies here. We don't play with full decks as it's not important to the math of the games, full
decks are not necessary (as seen below) when organizing the cards, and not worrying about full decks speeds
getting cards out and putting them away (as seen below) at the beginning and end of classes.
In the first bucket, put your low cards. For example, John likes to put his 1's, 2's, 3's, 4's and 5's. The cards
match the fingers on the hand, keeps sums to 10, products to 25, denominators to 1/5s. On the other hand,
Jane likes to have 1's through 6's as this allows matching the cards to a typical 6-sided die. This also allows
sums to 12, products to 36 and fraction denominators to 1/6s. The key here is that as teacher, decide what
cards go into your buckets based on your classroom routines.
In the second bucket, put the rest of your single-digit cards. John - 6's, 7's, 8's, 9's, and 0's (Kings for 0 if using
a regular deck). Jane - 7's, 8's, 9's, and 0's (Kings for 0 if using a regular deck). The cards in this bucket along
with cards in the first bucket allow for Place Value (0-9 digits), sums to 18, products to 81 and fraction
denominators to 1/9s.
In the last bucket, put everything else - 10's 11's 12s (Jacks for 11, Queens for 12 if using regular decks) and
any wild cards or jokers.
GETTING CARDS OUT
Once a teacher has identified a game and shown how to play, the students are told to get a "small" or "big"
handful of cards form either a specific bucket or buckets
SHUFFLING AND DEALING
Cards are "mushed up" and quickly separated into as many groups as players (typically 2 for 2 players, 3 for 3
players). The player Mushing the cards is the last to pick a pile (piles do not have to be exactly equal, if
"winning" is important, the winner is whoever has the most cards in their "point pile" at the end).
CLEANING UP
Players quickly place the cards into 3 piles. First pile has 1s 2s 3s 4s and 5s. Second pile has 6s 7s 8s 9s and
0s. Last pile has 10s 11s 12s Wild Cards, Jokers, etc. The piles are then placed into their corresponding
bucket.

Organizing Your Dominoes & Dominoes Management

A typical class will need a minimum of one set of dominoes for every two students (about 12 sets). If feasible, 1
set per student is even better.
First and Foremost Use Dominoes of Different COLORS! This makes it easier to determine each student's or
group's set while playing and when putting dominoes away. If you already have sets of the same color, get a
adult (parent?) volunteer with 6 colors of permanent spray paint. The adult volunteer takes one set, lays them
face-down on newspaper (outside or other well ventilated area) and sprays the back of the set all one color (for
example "green"). The volunteer then takes the other sets and repeats the same process but with a different
color for each set until the first 6 sets are done. The volunteer continues to do sets of 6 in this way until the
entire collection of dominoes has been done.
Keep the dominoes in their sets inside easily opened and closed see-through containers such as Mesh
Bags, Traveling Soap containers, heavy duty sandwich sized freezer bags etc.
For each week that the students are using the Dominoes, have the students make sure they have a
complete set by using their set to fill in the Dominoes Outcomes Chart (page 78 in Domino Games - Connecting
The Dots, page 77 in Domino Games - Linking The Learning).

When students are done using the dominoes for the class, have them make stacks of 4 dominoes (a
complete set of 28 double-6 dominoes will have 7 stacks). If they have a complete set, the put the dominoes
into the container and them put the container away. If a set is missing a domino, it is important that the teacher
knows so it can either be found or, if all else fails, the container for the set is marked as "incomplete" until a
replacement can be found. Younger students may find it easier to put them into stacks of 2 (14 stacks for a
complete set).

Organizing Your Dice & Dice Management

Keep dice that are the same together in one container (for example 0-9 dice in one container, + and - dice in
another container, 1-12 dice in a third container, etc.). See-through re-sealable tupperware containers or heavy
duty mid-sized freezer bags work well. One student per group or game gets the dice for the game and returns
the dice at the end of the game.
Have the students roll the dice into their hands! Roll their dice into the "Hockey Net", "Soccer Goal", "Dug
Out" etc. In other words the dice rolled by one hand and are blocked from going too far by the other hand.
Another effective example is to have the students roll the dice with both hands, "trap" the dice in both hands and
then "hide" the dice as they fall the 2 cms from their hands onto the playing surface. The roll is "revealed" when
they remove their hands from over the dice.
For noisy dice - roll on something "soft" Fun Foam, Felt liners or pads, table setting mats etc all work well.
In a pinch, have the students roll on 5-10 sheets of paper stacked on top of each other. The stacked paper
muffles a lot of the sound.

Organizing & Managing Your Dice Trays (36 dice in a tray)

When taking the dice out of the tray. Remove the tray from the bag, turn the tray upside-down (black on top)
and take the black tray off of the clear lid (the dice remain in the lid). The dice are now easily "poured out" of the
lid onto the playing surface.
Play on the floor when possible. The dice don't "fall off" the floor and most students enjoy the experience of
playing on the floor as it gives them room to "spread out".
Have the students roll the dice into their hands! Roll their dice into the "Hockey Net", "Soccer Goal", "Dug
Out" etc. In other words the dice rolled by one hand and are blocked from going too far by the other hand.
Another effective example is to have the students roll the dice with both hands, "trap" the dice in both hands and
then "hide" the dice as they fall the 2 cms from their hands onto the playing surface. The roll is "revealed" when
they remove their hands from over the dice.
For noisy dice - roll on something "soft" Fun Foam, Felt liners or pads, table setting mats etc all work well.
In a pinch, have the students roll on 5-10 sheets of paper stacked on top of each other. The stacked paper
muffles a lot of the sound.
When putting the dice back into the trays at the end of a class have the students start with the lid, using one
hand to "separate" one half of the lid from the other. The students take all of ONE COLOR of the dice and pour
them into ONE HALF of the lid. They spread the dice into the half, "patting down" the dice so the dice are flat
and in place. Then all of the dice of the OTHER COLOR are poured into the other half of the lid. Again, the
students "pat down" the dice so the dice are flat and in place. The black tray is then fitted on to the top of the
dice in the lid. The tray is now complete and can be slipped back into the ziplock bag.
Use rubber bands to separate parts of the tray. This is useful when using the trays for place value and you
want to limit size to less than 100,000 or you want to have a "decimal place".

Adapted From "Dice Works" page 44. Use Cards 0 (K) through 9. Mix the cards up. Players take turns flipping over two cards at a time. One card is located at the
top, the other is located at the left side. Players trace their fingers from the two numbers to the sum (answer) on the board. For example, 3 and 7 are flipped over. 3 is
placed on the top and 7 is placed on the left. The player runs their left finger along the "7" row and runs their right finger down the "3" column until they meet at the "10".
They place a chip at that location. The player then switches the cards and places the 7 at the top and the 3 on the left side. The player runs their left finger along the "3"
row and runs their right finger down the "7" column until they meet at "10". They place a chip at that location. Most turns will have players place two chips. Players
continue to alternate turns until one player places a chip that completes a 3-in-a-row, 4-in-a-row or, 5-in-a-row Tic Tac Toe. When this happens, the player removes the
chips for that Tic Tac Toe and places them into their "point pile". Tic Tac Toes usually occur two at a time. Stealing points - If a player has a turn where an answer
already has a chip on it, the player, removes that chip, places it into their point pile and then, places a new chip on the answer. For example, if a player flipped a 3 and 7
and the 10 answer already has a chip on it.

From "Dice Works" page 69. Roll two special 1-12 dice at a time. Multiply the factors, place the math sentence on
the appropriate space on your side. If the space is already filled, then no space is filled in for that turn. First player
to fill in their side is the winner.

From "Dice Works" page 72. Roll two special 1-12 dice at a time. Multiply the factors and round the product to the nearest 10's place. Circle
the answer on you row. If the space is already filled, then no answer is circled for that turn. First player to fill in their side is the winner.

Reach For The Top

Salute

Box Cars "Dice Works" page 56

Box Cars "All Hands On Deck" Mystery Number (adapted)

Box Cars"Shuffling Into Math" Guesstimate(adapted)

Concepts: Number Recognition, Adding, Subtracting,

Mixed Operations, etc
Equipment: Regular Spotted Dice
Goal/Object: Have one of the (vertical) columns reach the
top
Players take turns rolling 2 spotted dice. The dice are
added and the math sentence is then recorded in the
column of the answer. This continues until one column is
completely filled to the top.
Variations: (1) Players try to complete a full (horizontal)
row. Once at least one space is filled in for numbers 2 12, Players then roll one die per turn until they roll a "1".
(2) Players are allowed to add or subtract when attempting
to fill in a horizontal row.
(3) Players use all 4 operations to make math sentences
to fill in every space on the board.

Concepts: Missing Addend, Factor

Equipment: Cards 0-12 (J=11 Q=12 K=0)
Goal/Object: Figure Out value of the card on your head
Usually 3 players with one player taking the role of
"General". The General says "salute". The other two
players take the card from the top of their deck and
WITHOUT LOOKING AT IT place it on their forehead so
everyone else can see what the card on their forehead is.
The General Adds the two cards together and says "The
sum of your two cards is...." The two players then use the
sum and the card they can see on their opponent's forehead
to try and figure out their own card.
Variations: (1) Mulitplication (take out 0s)
(2) 4 Players (one General, 3 soldiers)

WARP 18
LEVEL:

K3

SKILLS: adding to 18 with three addends, fact families, associative property of

addition,

working with patterns

PLAYERS:

2 (1 vs 1)

EQUIPMENT:
GOAL:

tray of dice (each player needs 18 of their own color), gameboard

to have the most dice in the racetrack at the end of the game

GETTING STARTED:
MATH TALK

Introduce the associative property of addition, which states: the

sum stays the same when the grouping of addends is changed
(6 + 4) + 2

10 + 2 = 12

6 + (4 + 2)

6 + 6 = 12

Each player takes 18 dice of one color and picks a side of the dice tray to be their
racetrack. Each player picks up three dice, rolls, and calculates their sum.
The player with the greatest sum puts their dice into their side of the racetrack, and the
player with the least sum tosses their dice into the lid. Both players verbalize their
sums and the winner verbalizes:
MATH TALK

15 is a greater sum than 12.

More importantly, we have students move their dice and set them how their brain put it
together.
Players each pick up three more dice, roll and compare their next sums. In the event of a
TIE or EQUAL SUM both players put their three dice into their side of the tray. Play continues
until both players 18 dice have been rolled out. The player with the most dice on their side
of the racetrack wins.

BATTERS UP
INNING

NUMBER

ROLL

TOTAL SCORE =

VALUE/POINTS/SCORE

ROLL ON PLACE VALUE PRIMARY

ROLLS

ROUND THREE

ROUND TWO

ROUND ONE

HUNDREDS

PLAYER
ONE
PLAYER
TWO
PLAYER
ONE
PLAYER
TWO
PLAYER
ONE
PLAYER
TWO

TENS

STANDARD FORM
ONES

HUNDREDS

TENS

ONES

ROLL ON PLACE VALUE

ROLL ON PLACE VALUE - DECIMALS

RACE WITH RULES - ADDITION

PLAYER TWO

PLAYER ONE

EVEN
SUM

DIFFERENCE
OF 1

ODD
SUM

RACE WITH RULES - MULTIPLICATION

PLAYER TWO

PLAYER ONE

EVEN
PRODUCTS

PRODUCTS
OF DOUBLES

ODD
PRODUCTS

36 - SLAM DUNK
PLAYER
ONE

PLAYER
TWO

What's Under My Thumb?

Copyright Box Cars And One-Eyed Jacks 2013

Level: Grades K - 3
Concepts: Missing Addend, Subtraction, Counting On or Back
Players: 1 vs 1
Equipment: Stratedice Tray, One Game board, pencil
Goal: To figure out the number under the other player's finger.
Setting Up: Each player has their own color dice. Player One turns their back to Player Two
and secretly rolls two of Player Two's dice (rolled 5 and 1, covered the 1 with a finger), adds
the two dice together to get the sum of 6. Player One then turns back around so Player Two
can see the 5 and the other covered die (1). Player One then says "Six is my sum! What's
under my thumb?" Player Two figures out that 1 added to 5 equals 6 and says "ONE".
Player Two records the 5 on the line for one addend, records the 1 in the box for the missing
addend and records the sum (6) into the sum location. Since player Two was correct, Player
Two places both dice into their side of the Black Tray. Players continue to alternate turns
secretly rolling two of the other player's dice, adding them and saying the rhyme. If players
say the correct missing addend, they get to put their dice into the Black Tray. If they are
incorrect, they place their dice into the clear lid. The player with the most dice in the Black
Tray at the end of 9 rounds wins the game.
Example:
Player One rolled 1 and 5, covered the 1 and said "SIX is my sum! What's under my
thumb?"
Player Two filled in the

5 +

= 6

on the paper and said "ONE"

Since Player Two was correct, they placed their dice into the Black Tray (incorrect answers
go in lid).

Player One

Player Two

Total Dice In
Black Tray =

Total Dice In
Black Tray =

What's Under My Thumb? - Multiplication

Copyright Box Cars And One-Eyed Jacks 2013

Level: Grades 2 - 4
Concepts: Missing factor, Division
Players: 1 vs 1
Equipment: Stratedice Tray, One Game board, pencil
Goal: To figure out the number under the other player's finger.
Setting Up: Each player has their own color dice. Player One turns their back to Player Two
and secretly rolls two of Player Two's dice (rolled 5 and 4, covered the 4 with a finger),
multiplies the two dice together to get the product of 20. Player One then turns around so
Player Two can see the 5 and the die (4) covered by Player Ones finger. Player One then
says "Twenty is my product! What's under my thumb?" Player Two figures out that 5 times 4
is 20 and says "FOUR". They could have also figured it out by division, 205=4 or with 4
skip counts of 5, (5,10,15, 20). Player Two records the 5 on the line for one factor, records
the 4 in the box for the missing factor and records the product 20 into the product location.
Since player Two was correct, Player Two places both dice into their side of the black tray.
Players continue to alternate turns secretly rolling two of the other player's dice, multiplying
them and saying the sentence. Dice of correct answers go into that players side of the black
tray. Dice of incorrect answers go into that players side of the clear lid. The player with the
most dice on their side of the black tray at the end of 9 rounds wins the game.
Example:
Player One rolled 4 and 5, covered the 4 and said "20 is my product! What's under my
thumb?"
Player Two filled in the

5 x

= 20

on the paper and said "TWENTY"

Since Player Two was correct, they placed their dice on their side of the black tray.

Player One

Player Two

Total Dice In
Black Tray =

Total Dice In
Black Tray =

Session Evaluation
Title : _____________________________ Presenter: _________________ Length: _____
The next time you do this workshop:
Keep:

Discard:

Add:

would /

Tear Here
Tear Here

would not

recommend this workshop / speaker because:

------------------------------------------- -------------

Action Plan (Don't forget the other side) - You Keep

What's Working for me:

What's Not Working for me:

Because of this workshop, there are things I'd like to do right away.

Because of this workshop, there are things I'd like to do in the next little while.

Because of this workshop, there are things that I would eventually like to do.

Tear Here
Tear Here

------------------------------------------- -------------

Tomorrow I will :

This Week I will:

This Month I will:

This Year I will:

Friends I can't wait to tell about what I'm going to do.

(these are your cheerleaders who will keep you motivated)

Allies who I will need to see this through.

(these are people who will enable you to implement your new strategies)

Acquaintances who need to be kept informed.

(usually bosses or supervisors that need to be kept in the loop so they are not "surprised.