BACON

Need a quick, low prep activity?

Bacon, Bacon, Bacon!!

Bacon goes with just about everything! Eggs, potatoes, sandwiches, salads, donuts, scallops... pretty much anything. Are you hungry now?

This math game has nothing to do with food. This activity is a game to work on mental math... addition of numbers.

Kristin has played this game for years, but only recently taught me how to play it. I was planning on showing teachers a few weeks ago at a PD, but we ran out of time. Today however, it came to mind.

I had my class outside the music room waiting for the teacher to return to their room to start music class. We were standing in the hallway for a few minutes and they were struggling to be at a voice level 0. So I started at the far end of the line and said, "Chloe, add 0 and 1" She said 1. I pointed to the next person and said, "Add 2." Down the line we went. I was SHOCKED at how much they struggled to do the mental math of adding the subsequent number. Shocked!!!

We have our intervention & enrichment 30 minute time right after music. I have 7 kids in my group. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays they work on ELA. Tuesday and Thursdays they normally play fluency games in partners, groups, or we play as a whole. Today, today I introduced BACON.

I told them that I was disappointed in how poorly the mental addition was in the hallway and that we were going to work on it. The only way to get better at something is to practice.  I introduced the game to the kids and they HAD A BLAST!!

BACON is a game of mental math and chance.

You can use dice or playing cards. The dice depends on your grade level.

K: Use a dice with 1, 2, 3's

1-2: Use a 6-sided die

3-5: Use a die with 10, 12, 20 or more sides. You can also use decimal or fraction dice.

To start the game, all students stand-up. Roll the dice or pull the playing card to know the KNOCKOUT number. If this number comes up again and a student is standing, that student gets a score of 0 for that round. The students remain standing until they want to "bank" their score. As the dice gets rolled or cards get pulled, the numbers continue to get added together. Once a student sits and "banks" their number, that is recorded on the appropriate round.

At the end of the 5th round, total up the students points.

It's such an EASY, LOW PREP, ENGAGING way to work on mental math with your students.

Game Sheets & Directions: BACON