Just a Minute Math Game

Easy to Play

Imagine a game, that your students can play everyday in math class, that is different every time they play. Teachers can use the game to:

• Review previous lessons
• Activate background information
• Strengthen students’ understanding of skills and concepts
• Encourage learners to use academic vocabulary
• Help students connect math with other subjects

This game has one simple rule and loads of variations.

Players Talk about a Topic for an Entire Minute

‘Just a Minute’ can be played with any topic, question, or sentence starter you can imagine. Here are some examples that can be adapted to your grade level:

• List numbers that are multiples of 3 (8, or 17 depending on your students).
• Explain addition without using the word, ‘add’ .
• Why is division the opposite of multiplication?
• Share the steps to use in ‘counting on’.
• What is place value?
• How can you tell when a number is even?
• What questions do you have about Day Light Saving Time?
• ?

Another approach is to have each speaker tell everything they know about a subject during their minute.

• Rounding
• Counting money
• Prime numbers/ composite numbers
• Square numbers
• Regrouping
• The number line
• Skip counting
• Number patterns
• Triangles (squares, circles, and so on)
• Symmetry
• The Calendar
• Fractions, (numerators, denominators, equivalent fractions…)
• ?

Finally, just for fun, you might consider using some other kind of prompts on Fridays, days before vacation. or on those days when everyone needs a little laugh.

• Name all the colors (flowers, trees, birds, cities…) that you can in a minute.
• What is the  opposite of infinity?
• List as many words that rhyme with one (two, three…) as possible in a minute.
• Tell the story of the Three Little Pigs.
• Where does a sound go after we hear it?
• Is one number luckier than another? Explain.
• ?

Get Started

Here’s how:

• Post two vocabulary words where everyone can see them.
• Have a timer ready to countdown a minute.
• Group students in pairs, include yourself if needed.
• Decide who speaks first based on alphabetical order of first names.
• Decide the first speaker’s topic the same way.
• Set the timer and start talking/listening.
• Reset the timer and let the second speaker have their turn.

This method gives students 5 minutes each week to talk and 5 to listen. Make it easy on yourself by having students partner with the same person for a month. That way you can assign the same topics twice over the month; once for the first speaker and once for the second speaker.