How to Incorporate Dice Games into your Reading and Math Lessons

Dice games are easy, hands-on activities that you can incorporate into math and reading learning. Students love the unpredictability of what number the dice will land on and this creates excitement. Here are four activities you can use that incorporates dice into your instruction. 

Phonics: Roll and Read 

Roll and Read is a fun dice game that will get your students practicing letter or sound recognition.

Materials:

1. Dice
2. Roll and Read Template 
3. Small Objects 

Write the letters or sounds you are teaching on the roll and read the template. Give them die and tell them to roll the dice and read a letter or say a sound in that column. If they answer correctly, they cover the letter with a small object. The goal is for one column to reach the top. 

Roll and Chat: Text Comprehension Activity

Roll the die and chat about the book. 

Materials:

1. Die
2. Roll and Chat Template 

After you finish reading a book, students roll a die and answer a discussion question. You can use this to get students chatting about a book or to get them to discuss story elements. 

Fill the Cup: A Comparing Math Game

Get students comparing quantities by playing Fill the Cup. In this activity, partners take turns rolling a die and putting that many cubes in their cups. Once each cup is filled to the top, they take the cubes out and count them by making a tower. They can compare by saying which tower is longer or shorter (measurement) or saying which tower has more or fewer cubes and how they know using words like more and less (counting and cardinality). 

Materials:

1. Die
2. 2 Cups
3. Cubes 

Not only is this game is aligned to the standards, but this is also a partner game so students engage in math discourse. 

Roll and Add: A Math Game 

Roll and add is as simple as its name implies. Students roll a die and add the two numbers.

Materials:

1. Die
2. Dry erase board 
3. Marker

 To make it challenging, you can have them roll two or three dice, depending on what you’re teaching. 

Students love dice games. They love them even more if the dice are jumbo-sized (affiliate link). These dice games are perfect for small group learning in math or reading. 

Try out these hands-on phonics activities for the year, check out these activities. 

What are some other dice games that you use in the classroom? Let me know in the comments section below. 

Happy teaching,

Tee