Facilitator’s Guide
Four in a Row
UNIT/SUBJECT: Math
LESSON TITLE/FOCUS: Four in a Row
PURPOSE: To show the students the importance of mental math and its relevance in the real
world.
RATIONALE: Several of our students go through the motions when it comes to mathematics.
They do not see how math relates to the world outside of the classroom, and thus judges math as
unimportant. This activity will focus on building their mental math skills, so when it comes time
to apply math related skills to the real world, they will be able to do so.
LEARNING TARGETS/OBJECTIVES:
Students will be able to:
 Provide their own real world examples of how different types of numbers
are used.
 Demonstrate mental math, finding the products of two numbers.
 Justify their thought process(es) to their opponent(s) (if need be), for why
they made the move they did.
 Explain the importance of mathematics
 Design their own Four in a row game board
ASSESSMENT:
During each activity we will make rounds at each table, frequently stopping to watch
their game, asking if they have any questions.
Their opponents will also assess their work, since they don’t want them to make an illegal
move.
At the conclusion of each game the winners will receive some candy, this will entice the
students to play strategically and for the win (all students will receive some candy at the
conclusion of our activities)!
TEACHING PROCEDURES:
Introduction/Anticipatory Set:
-Students walk in, they will see a list of all the jobs that
require math, on a big sheet of white paper, this will show them all the opportunities that will be
lost if they drop math.
-Ice Breaker: the students will stand up and order
themselves from oldest to youngest by the month, day and year they were born without speaking.
Once they are in line, they will say their birthday, and if anyone is out of place, they will then
position themselves in the correct spot at that time. From here we will group students into fours
(i.e. have the first four people be a group, the second four are a group, and so on.). They will then
go to their respective table.
-Our introductions.
Learning Activities:
(1) Number sense introduction: each student will work on an entry task/activity to help them get
into the correct mindset. There will be examples from the real world of different types of
numbers; they will then match our examples to the numbers (see When in the World Will I Use
These Concepts?).
(2) Students examples: Each group will be given a different type of number: fraction, percent,
decimals, etc. (some groups will have the same as another group). Within their group they will
think of their own real world examples that are different from the examples that were already
provided in the entry task/activity. When they finish a representative from their team will read
their real world example to the large whole group.
(3) Four in a Row: We will explain the game, and show examples of how to play. Procedure:
1. Display a transparency of the Activity Master (or draw it on the board).
2. Explain the game. There is a separate row at the bottom of the paper where you choose
two numbers. The product of the two numbers chosen is located in the rectangular grid located
above. The goal is to get a line of four products on their grid, the line being vertical, horizontal,
or diagonal.
3. Toss a coin to see which team begins. The first team selects two factors, marks them
with paper clips, and places a square piece of colored construction paper on the corresponding
product. The first team could select a negative five and a positive eleven and can place their
square colored piece of construction paper on the product, -55.
4. Team two now gets to move one of the paper clips to a new factor. It can be moved to
any factor, not necessarily to an adjacent one. They can also choose to square a number by
placing both paper clips on the same factor. Thus team two might move the negative five to the
negative nine to claim the product -99, or move the negative five to the positive eleven to claim
the product 121.
5. Play alternates between the two teams. Once a product has been marked, it may not be
used again. Play continues until one team scores four products in a row (if need be, put a one
minute time limit on the students’ turn to keep the game pushing).
6. The game’s strategy changes once a team has three products in a row. The other team
must now play good defense to ensure that they don’t leave a paper clip on one of the factors the
other team needs.
Questions (based after Activity 2)
1. What real world situations would require the use of mental math with these
types of numbers?
Students will be in their groups and will be given one number type: fraction, percentage,
decimal, etc. Since there are several groups, some may have the same number. Each group will
come up with their own real world example related to their number that is different from the
example that we gave. Once they come up with their example, we will come back together as a
whole group, and one representative from each group will state their example.
Closure:
Question #1: What strategies did you use which helped you win?
Question #2: What did you find difficult during the game?
Closing: So we’ve noticed several ways that math has been applied to the real world
and the significance of mathematics in our daily lives.
Question #3: Why do you feel mental mathematics is important?
Question #4: What’s something you have learned that you did not know before
you came here?
Independent Practice:
You will need a blank Four in a Row board: Students will have a chance
to create their own Four in a Row board with any type of numbers they desire. This will be more
of an activity to reinforce what we discussed and dealt with during the activity, and something
fun to do, to pass the time.
STUDENT GROUPING/COMMUNITY BUILDING:
Middle School: Students will have two people per team of mixed abilities.
They will be able to work off of one another to figure out the answers.
High School: Students will play independently against another student,
providing more competition. The students will play against random opponents and different
mathematical abilities.
** The person(s) who are waiting for their turn will have a scratch piece of paper
to make sure their opponent is making accurate calculations, so there will not be any cheating.
How about the timing issue? How will you limit their turns?
ACCOMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS:
Depending on the type of need the student has, either they could use a scratch
piece of paper to figure out the product of the two numbers, or if need be, have one of us aid
them during the game.
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS:
Copies: -of the eight game boards…preferably in cardstock or a thicker paper.
-of the blank game board on regular paper, for each student’s
independent practice.
-of the entry task/activity (on the following page).
Transparency:
play the game.
-of 1 or 2 game boards so the students can see an example of how to
Paper clips: -2 per group
Construction Paper: -Enough to cut into square pieces to cover every box on the
rectangular grid (2 different colors)
Overhead:
Overhead Pens: Two colors to demonstrate the examples on the overhead.
Scratch paper:
Names: ____________________ ____________________
____________________ ____________________
When Will You Use These Concepts?
A. Percents (ex: 35%, 1%)
D. Positive Factors (ex. 3·8)
B. Fractions (ex: ½, ¾)
E. Two-Digit Factors (ex. 14· 32)
C. Decimals Factors (ex. .001· 1.2)
F. Integer Factors (ex: -2·6)
Directions: Your objective is to match the real world problems listed below, with the type
of mathematical concept (llisted above) that it relates to. Place the letter on the blank line
next to the example. You DO NOT have to solve these problems!
_________ 1. You have just been paid for your summer job and you take your parents advice
and deposit $500 into your bank account. In return the bank will pay you 2% of the deposited
amount after just 1 month. How much will the bank pay you after the month?
_________ 2. You realize that you only have a couple of measuring cups in your drawer (you
knew you should’ve bought the set when you went grocery shopping last night). Now you need
to use the measuring cups that you have to double your Thanksgiving dinner…everybody and
their brother/sister is coming over!
_________ 3. You’re having a birthday party. You need 12 hamburgers, each of which costs $2.
You also need 4 bags of chips which cost $3 each. How much money do you need to save in
order to feed your friends?
_________ 4. The school is purchasing 18 computers for a classroom. Each computer is priced at
$400. How much should the school expect to pay in total for the computers?
_________ 5. Pretend that you’re standing on the 0-mark of a number line. If you’re looking
forward, then you are looking at the ‘positive’ numbers, but if you have to look behind yourself,
then that’s the ‘negative’ numbers. Let’s say you decide to look behind yourself and actually face
that direction (the negative side), but walk in a negative direction (backwards)…what does this
represent?
_________ 6. A group of friends drives to Wal-Mart to buy an Ipod Shuffle and one of them
noticed that the model they wanted is on sale. If they have their student ids on them, they will
receive a 10% off of there Ipod. If the original cost of the Ipod shuffle was $99.00 what is the
cost after the discount?