I love doing this activity with kindergartners and first graders! Not only is it a great way for them to practice their addition facts but these little guys LOVE writing on their individual white board, so it’s a win/win! And it’s so simple. Here’s what you do:

Without turning it on, put ONE domino on the overhead projector or doc camera. Tell students that you are going to flash a domino for a few seconds and their job is to figure out how many pips (dots) they see all together and write it on their white board. Start with an easy one, like one pip on one side and one pip on the other side. Turn on the overhead for 2 seconds (longer for the younger ones). Give students a few seconds to write their answer and then have them hold up their boards for you to see. This was a simple one, so most students should have written the number ‘2’ on their board. If not, they now know what to do.

Continue with flashing different dominoes while students figure out the total pips. After each one, it’s a good idea to have students share their strategies for figuring out the answer. The goal is to get them to subitize the pips. In other words, we want them to be able to quickly recognize a small grouping, such as 3 pips, without having to count each one.

Note: I always give students an option to ‘opt out’. Whenever we work with individual white boards and they do not know the answer, I have them write a question mark. I would rather have them write a question mark than show me a blank board. That’s because with the question mark, I know that they are telling me they can’t figure it out.

Connections to the CCSSM: K.CC.B.4b; KOA.A.1; K.OA.A.2; K.OA.A.3; K.OA.A.5; 1.OA.B.3; 1.OA.C.6