The Domino Effect!

Last day of September - where did the month go?  By now, things have settled into place at school - for now - although there are thunder clouds on the horizon, aren't there!

I'm now working on Grade 4 of my publishing contract and in the course of reading some Ministry documents on the Fundamentals for Math, I came across the recommendation for three games.  One of the games was called Domino Drop.  When I did a search I found several references to an app called Domino Drop, including this recommendation .  It's on a site called Learning Works for Kids and it looks to be another reference source I'm going to follow.

This is what the screen looks like for Domino Drop.  

When you read the recommendations on the site for the App, you'll see that two Executive Functioning Skills are addressed: Planning and Organization.  There are also some basic math-related skills.  So I paid the grand price of just under $3.00, and added it to my iPad.

But here's the thing - that was not the game or the app the Ministry was recommending!  Eventually I found another Ministry document (and this was a true gem) with many games to supplement classroom learning.   The game Domino Drop was one of them.  But it is an entirely different game, although 'real' dominoes are involved.

It's a great game to reinforce beginning arithmetic skills of 'One More Than' and 'Two More Than' facts. Because students can easily recall the next number (+1) or the number after that (+2), it is advisable to begin instruction with “one-more-than” and “two-more-than” facts (see Strategy Cues below).

But also look at this game as another tool/strategy for reinforcing Executive Functions, particularly Focusing, Impulse control, and Organization.

Intrigued, I found John's domino set and today my student and I played.  We adapted some of the instructions from the Ministry.  Here's my adaptation for two players:

Materials:

• a set of dominoes, divided equally between two players
• Strategy cues: (use the first 6 for younger students)
• one more than
• two more than
• one less than
• two less than
• take away one
• take away two
• add one
• add two
• plus one
• plus two
• one less
• two less

How to Play:

• Choose a strategy cue (one more than, two more than, etc.)
• Arrange an equal number of dominoes between the two of you, face down.
• Turn one domino over, and place it in the centre of the playing area.
• Take turns using the chosen strategy to try to make a match to the centre domino.  If the strategy is “one more than” and the domino that is face up has a 2 and a 5, a player would need to have a domino with a 3 or 6 to match. If the player cannot make a match, she/he selects one additional domino from the collection and tries to make a match. If not, the turn is over and the other player plays. Play continues until one player has played all their dominoes.
• Extension: Give players two strategy cards at a time (any combination of one more than, two more than, one less than, two less than) so that they can use either strategy when making a match.

Finally, an update on Tenzi:

I did buy the card pack 77 Ways to Play Tenzi to supplement my Tenzi Pack  (see earlier post).  We played it many times with Florence and Luke (grandchildren) at the cottage, and it was the game of choice for Florence!

Have fun.  Coming next - using calendars to keep us all organized!