How many?

There are many games and activities that are suitable for teaching about numbers.  My 6th grade students learn how to count from 1 to 100, and I try to pay specific attention to their listening and pronunciation of numbers that have very similar sounds in English, such as 13 and 30.  As with many of my lessons, the most effective activities are those that let students use different senses and learning styles.

The "How many?" quiz is challenging and engaging, and has students working together in groups to guess the answers to various questions.  After explaining each question and giving some visual hints, I set a timer for 1 minute, while each group thinks together and writes their answer on their worksheet.  After 1 minute, each group announces their guess, and finally I reveal the correct answer.  Here are some of the questions that I use:

1) How many bones in your wrist?  The correct answer is 8, and I show an x-ray image of a human hand, so we can count all the wrist bones together.

2) How many paperclips?  I take a handful of paperclips and connect them into one chain.  Then I walk around the classroom holding the swinging chain and ask the students to count how many paperclips there are.  Keep the chain moving!

3) How many cities in Niigata?  In recent years many parts of Niigata Prefecture have combined and merged into larger cities and wards.  Students try to guess how many cities (not including towns or villages) there are presently.  Right now there are 20.

4) How many marbles?  I prepare a small jar full of marbles, and ask students to guess how many are in the jar.  Each group has 10 seconds to handle and look at the jar, but they must not open it up.

5) How many keys (black and white) on a full-size piano?  There are 88.

6) How many dimples on a golf ball?  This is usually the final question, and the most ridiculous.  I let each group hold and look at a golf ball for 10 seconds, while giving them a hint that the answer is between 100 and 1000.  On a tournament golf ball there are 336 dimples.

The key to this kind of quiz is choosing questions that will challenge different kinds of topics.  Try to appeal to the students' interests in sports, animals, science, etc., while also using some realia and tactile materials.