This idea was originally shared by Jamie Nelson, IN teacher extraordinaire, at the 2018 IMLEA conference.

Gist: Students race to finish their worksheet before someone rolls a 6 and takes over.

Why Do It?  The unpredictable nature of the rolls keeps this competitive and highly engaging.  All you need is a worksheet and some dice!

 

Materials:

-one copy of the worksheet for each student

-one die for every 3 or 4 students

Set Up:

1.Arrange students into teams of 3 or 4.

2. Have one copy of the worksheet ready for each student, one die for each team, and one pencil for each team.

To Play:

1. Distribute a copy of the worksheet to each player, face down.

2. Go over the rules--one player starts with the pencil and will be the first to work on their worksheet.  The student to their right gets the die.  On "Go!" the student with the pencil begins his or her worksheet while the student with the die starts rolling.  The other player(s) can read their worksheet and think of answers but CANNOT write yet.

3. When the player with the die rolls a 6, they take the pencil from the original player, and the die passes to the right.  Repeat play with these players performing their new roles.

4.  Continue until someone believes they are done.  When a player believes they are done, all other players turn their papers over while you check that player's work.  If you find a mistake, they may resume play.  Alternatively, you may call "Time!" and check whatever they've finished.

 

Caution and Tips:

-Keep teams small so that no player is idle very long.

-Allowing students to look at their worksheet between turns allows them to keep thinking and planning, keeping them engaged on content.

Variations:

-Teams can compete to have the most questions correct.

-Multiple dice could be going at one time in each team to keep play unpredictable.

-This procedure could also be used for essay-style questions or multi-step problems.  Additionally, one essay or long problem could be worked on by the whole group with the problem passing person to person instead of each person having their own.

-This game can be played with Left, Right, Center dice.  To play this variation, students are on 4-people teams.  The player working first works one problem, then rolls the die to determine if play moves to the left, right, or across (center).  Again, this can be done with individual worksheets or one per team.