Math Beyond Workbooks

Dice Fractions

• skills involved: number sense, addition (or subtraction, multiplication, or division) of fractions


• materials needed: 1 die, paper and pencils

1. Play in groups of 2 or 3. Players take turns rolling a die and writing the digit in one of the boxes below:
   
   
   



2. The object is to arrive at the largest sum possible (or the smallest or the sum closest to 1 ‚ decide upon the goal ahead of time).



3. Once a digit is written down, it can't be moved. After all four boxes are filled, students calculate their sum and the largest sum scores a point. After seven rounds, the player wit the most points wins!

The operation can be changed from addition to subtraction, multiplication, or division. This game really helps develop students' number sense as they decide where to place each digit. For example, improper fractions give the largest results. If the numerator is as small as possible and the denominator as large as possible, the fraction will be close to zero. If you want students to work with numbers other than 1 ‚ 6, you can use cards numbered 1 ‚ 9, and students draw cards to generate the fractions.