Leprechaun Luck Game and the FREE March Math Toolbox!
If you enjoy teaching math (or even if you don’t!), you’ll love the resources in the March Math Toolbox! You’re in luck, too, because this massive collection of K-5 lessons, games and activities is absolutely FREE! The March Math Toolbox freebie includes 20 math resources from over a dozen teachers and bloggers. These resources include activities for Pi Day and St. Patrick’s Day, as well as spiral review that can be used all month.
My contribution to the March Math Toolbox is Leprechaun Luck, a fun partner math game that will spark loads of higher-level thinking and discussion. The game also makes an exciting introduction to basic probability concepts. Leprechaun Luck includes ready-to-use printables in black & white and color, along with detailed lesson information for the teacher.
How to Introduce Leprechaun Luck
Assign partners, and give each student a game board and 12 game markers. Each pair will also need two dice. For the game markers, the printable gold coins or marshmallows from a box of Lucky Charms cereal. Display the game directions, and ask players to place their 12 markers on the numbered squares on their boards in any arrangement they wish. Have them take turns rolling two dice, adding the numbers, and removing all game markers from the sum of the numbers. The winner is the first player to remove all game markers from his or her game board. Ask your students to play the game three or four times and try to figure out a strategy for winning.
Luck or Strategy?
The first time your students play the game, they may assume it’s just a game of luck and not a strategy game at all. But after they play a few more rounds, they’ll notice that some squares on the game board are “luckier” than others. How can this be? Why are some sums rolled more often than others? Can this knowledge be used to improve one’s chances of winning?
Questions like this pave the way for you to introduce and explore basic probability concepts with your students. Depending on your students’ readiness and interest level, you can touch on these concepts briefly or dig into them deeply. If you decide to go deep, the teaching suggestions in freebie will be helpful for guiding your probability discussions.
Grab Your Free March Math Toolbox Now!
Leprechaun Luck Game is just one of 20 awesome resources in the March Math Toolbox freebie! It’s only available for a limited time, so click over to the March Math Toolbox page now and request your copy. Lucky you!
