CLASSROOM CHALLENGE PART 3: COMPETE TEACHER GUIDE

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1 CLASSROOM CHALLENGE PART 3: COMPETE TEACHER GUIDE Now that your students have taken the Thermometer Challenge they are likely itching to show off their new math skills. In the third part of the Math Dice Classroom Challenge your students get to compete in one big tournament for a champion title. Tournaments bolster excitement, get students practicing and are a perfect way to celebrate math. The Classroom Challenge is broken down into three parts: 1. Part 1 - LEARN (Learn the rules of Math Dice and play as a class.) 2. Part 2 - PLAY (Set a team goal and play to earn points toward your goal.) 3. Part 3 - COMPETE (Show off your skills in a Classroom Math Dice Tournament.) The program is designed for you to go through each part in order. If you are here, you are ready to get started with Part 3 and have tons of fun while your students COMPETE in Math Dice tournaments. If you have not taken your class through Parts 1 or 2, please go back to do this. What To Expect: In this third part of the program you will learn how to turn your classroom into a tournament space and easily run a competitive tournament. It s much like the mini tournaments that you ve already experienced, however, the entire class will participate in a single tournament and you will be able to identify a champion at the end. Prepare for two minute sessions in addition to your final tournament and a celebration. Page 1

2 Session 1: Review the Student Welcome Presentation with your class. Once you are finished, allow your students to play 2-3 rounds for practice. This will ensure that they understand the rules and the rotation system. Session 2: Run a practice tournament. Play at least 2-3 rounds (or more if you like)! Tournament: Make sure that you have time to play your full tournament in one session! You should plan for minutes. Celebration: You can make your celebration follow your tournament on the same day, or you can decide to hold your celebration at a later time. What You ll Need: Player Stations tables or spots on the floor (2-3 players per station) Player Station Cards, Player Scorecards and Teacher Schedule (instantly available using our Tournament Resource Generator) Math Dice Games (1 for each Player Station) Pencils for each Player Station Timer Champion and Finalist Awards (in the Tournament Printable Resources Pack PDF) Prizes (optional) Student Welcome Powerpoint An overhead screen or projector for the Powerpoint All materials can be found under Part 3 at Page 2

3 Preparation Our Organizer s Checklist will have you fully prepared to successfully run your tournament. Here are some of the things you will need to think about and have ready ahead of time. a. Tournament Resource Generator:: Setting up your tournament and keeping things running smoothly is a piece of cake with our Tournament Resource Generator. This online tool prepares 3 components that are key to running a successful tournament: Player Station Cards, Player Scorecards and a customized Tournament Schedule. All you need to do is visit the Resource Generator webpage, input the number of players and Player Stations you plan to have, click DOWNLOAD and in seconds you will get a zip file including your pdfs. b. Player Stations:: Players will do all of their playing at these stations. They can be set up at tables or spots on the floor. Each Player Station will seat 2-3 players and will include: 1 Math Dice game 1 Player Station Card 1-3 Pencils Player Station Cards These cards let players know where they need to go once a round is complete. Tournaments are a success when players follow these movement rules. Winners of a round move up to play one another and last place players move down so that after just a few rounds players of similar ability are matched. This allows everyone playing to feel both challenged and successful. Number of Player Stations: When trying to decide on how many Player Stations to have keep these things in mind: For more Competitive Tournaments it is suggested that you have 2 players at most stations. Each station needs 1 Math Dice game. (If you are short on games you will need to order more or cap your stations at the number of games you have.) Page 3

4 Player Scorecards: Each player will have an individual Scorecard to keep track of his or her personal score. For each round players will tally the number of points that they win. At the end of a round players at each station will compare their scores and check whether or not they Won, came in Middle or Last. At the end of the tournament these scorecards will allow you to determine Finalists (players with only 1 round that they did not win) and an Undefeated Champion (a player with only Wins). Before the tournament begins make sure that each player has a Scorecard and has clearly written his or her name at the bottom. Our quick Welcome Powerpoint reviews Tournament rules and explains how Scorecards should be completed. Tournament Schedule: Based upon the number of players and stations you have you will get a schedule with a pre-determined number of rounds. It s helpful to use this as a guideline. Each round should last approximately 5-10 minutes. You can set the length of each round however suits you. We recommend that you fill this schedule out ahead of time with specific start and end times for each round. This way, you will know if you are falling behind and you can shorten upcoming rounds. Page 4

5 Playing Rules: a. Overview of Tournament Playing Rules 1. Teacher announces the tournament start and sets a timer. 2. Players play Math Dice and try to win as many points as they can. 3. Teacher announces when 30 seconds are remaining. 4. Teacher calls Stop! when the timer reaches 0 to indicate that a round is over. All players stop playing even if they are in the middle of playing a point. 5. Any Ties are resolved. 6. Players count points and determine ranking at their individual Player Station. Players mark their ranking on their Scorecards. 7. Players move stations according to the Player Station Cards. Players mark # of the next station on their Scorecard. 8. Play continues in this manner until the Bonus/Final Round. b. Resolving Ties Each round will end with players at approximately 5% of the Player Stations tied. You will want to resolve ties as quickly and as fairly as possible because other players must wait while ties are resolved. We recommend two ways of resolving ties. Choose the one that best suits your tournament and review this with your students prior to the tournament start. Resolution 1: Each players takes a 6 sided die and rolls it. The player who rolls the highest number is the winner. If players tie, they roll again. Resolution 2: Players play 1 Sudden Death point to see who is Winner and who is Loser. (A Sudden Death point is one final Math Dice point.) Page 5

6 Student Welcome Presentation This presentation will get everyone up to speed on the tournament rules. You should give the presentation during your first practice session while students are seated at Player Stations. Take a few minutes to review the presentation ahead of time and make decisions about specifics such as resolving ties and crowning champions. After presenting, allow your students minutes of play following the tournament rules. This is a good way to make sure everyone understands the rotation system. It s also a good way to see if the tie breaker you ve chosen is working out. (Note: Our tournament presentations are covered by a Creative Commons license that allows teachers to edit and adjust the files as they wish as long as not for commercial purposes.) Here are the topics that will be covered in the presentation: Tournament Overview Completing Player Scorecards Math Dice Rules Resolving Ties Movement Between Rounds Tournament Finale, Champions & Awards Your tournament champion will be the winning Player at the highest Player Station after the Bonus/Final Round. Announce at the tournament start that after X number of rounds the top players at the highest number Player Station will face off in a Championship round. The winner of this match will be the King of the Hill. You can choose to have all Player Stations play in this final round or to have everyone gather around and watch the players at the top station play. Regardless, before this Final Round begins, make all players aware. Playing this way is fun for players because it creates anticipation. In addition, if a player loses one round he or she knows that getting to the top table and becoming champion is still a possibility! Finalists In addition to having a King of the Hill champion you may want to award other players. Having several finalists in a tournament is always fun for participants. To determine your finalists wait until the Bonus Round is over. Ask players to look at their scorecards and identify themselves if they have won all but 1 round (so there is only 1 Loss or 1 Middle checked on their scorecard). These are your finalists. Page 6

7 Awards and Celebration One of the aspects students love most about Math Dice Tournaments is the celebration. Awarding champions and having a little ceremony gives your players something to look forward to ahead of time. The simplest way to put on an Award Ceremony is to print our certificates and be ready to hand them out at the end of the Tournament. We have seen so many playful ways to crown champions and celebrate there is no best way to do it, just have fun! a. King of the Hill and Finalist Award Ceremony: Winner Certificate for King of the Hill Champion (Prize game if available.) Finalist Certificate for Players with 1 Loss (Prize games if available.) Plan for up to 10% of your players to be finalists and make sure that you print enough certificates ahead of time. b. Random Awards Ceremony Pick a random # from a hat and give prizes to the players at that numbered Player Station. (Prize game if available.) Running Your Tournament On the day of the tournament use the Tournament Day Checklist to make sure things are in order and you don t miss any steps. Once you re students start rolling you re sure to be on a roll too! Page 7