Lesson 3

Train Game

Est. Class Sessions: 1

Summarizing the Lesson

Review Strategies. Bring the lesson to a close by discussing strategies for winning the game and reviewing the counting-on strategy. To gather feedback about the strategies tested, ask students to share what they learned while playing the game.

Ask:

X
  • Does the player who goes first always win? (no)
  • If you put the cubes on one-by-one, who will win? (the second player)
  • In order to win, is there a certain cube that you would like to place on the train? What number cube is it? Why? (If you place the sixth cube, the other player can only place 1, 2, or 3 cubes on, and that is not enough to win. You can place the tenth cube on next.)

Choose a student to be your opponent and play a final round of the Train Game. When it is your turn, ask the rest of the class to help you decide how to play your turn.

Ask questions such as:

X
  • How many cubes should I add?
  • How can I count these cubes efficiently?

Students will likely instruct you to count on from the number that is in the train when you start your turn, instead of counting from one, especially when the train is long.

Introduce Homework. To introduce the homework, display and direct students' attention to the Counting On Homework Master. Begin with a train of 5 red connecting cubes, similar to the train shown on the page.

Ask:

X
  • How many cubes are there in the train of cubes that I have in my hand? (5 cubes)

Add 3 yellow cubes to the train.

Ask:

X
  • How many cubes do I have now? How did you count? (8 cubes. Possible response: I started counting at 5 and counted 6, 7, 8.)

Refer to the first circus train on the page.

Ask:

X
  • How is the first circus train like the train of cubes above it? (They both have 5 "cars" and then 3 more "cars.")
  • How many cars do you think are in the circus train? Why do you think so? (Possible response: I think the circus train has 8 cars because it has the same number of cars as the train of cubes.)
  • How can we count the cars in the circus train to see if that answer is reasonable? (Start at the 5 and count 6, 7, 8.)

Tell students that for each train of cubes on the page they will color the cubes that are not shaded and then write the number of cubes in the whole train on the line. For each circus train, they should color the empty cars and then write the number of cubes in the whole train on the line. Remind students to count the engine. Encourage them to use a counting-on strategy beginning with five.

Adventure Book:
Student Activity Book:
Master: