An easy way for your students to understand ordinal numbers is to have them DO something in order as a sequence.

A fun way to reinforce this concept is for students to put a themed puzzle together.

Make it even more interesting by having them play the “Puzzle Game”!

Here’s How:

I make up puzzles from clipart to match whatever theme or lesson that we are studying that week.

Depending on the level of your students, you can make them as simple or as difficult as you want by cutting them into more pieces.

I don’t do anymore than 6 because I want to keep the time frame short and because I want to use a normal dice.

If you want to use these each year, then run off a class set of templates and laminate them.

Cut the puzzle pieces apart and keep each set in a Snack Baggie. Put all of the Snack Baggies in an extra large Ziploc Baggie with the numbered boards.

Rules:

Students choose a partner to play with.  Each child gets their own puzzle board and Snack Baggie of pieces.  Each pair gets one dice.

I like to use the big foam dice to keep the noise down.  Children spill out their pieces and take turns rolling the dice.

Because they must do things in order, they have to roll a 1 and place the first puzzle piece on their template.  After they have rolled a 1, then they must roll a 2 and so on, ‘til the last number they are rolling for is a 6.

Set a timer for a certain amount of time.  The child who completes their puzzle, or the one who has the most pieces on their puzzle board by the time the timer rings, is the winner.

I give everyone a seasonal sticker for participation.   After the game, we count out loud as we tuck the puzzle pieces back into the Baggies.

This ensures that you have all of the pieces in the correct Snack Baggie for next year.  It’s also a great way to reinforce ordinal number counting.

Home-School Connection:

If the theme happens to be centered around a holiday like this one, Thanksgiving, I will run off an extra set, and let the children take it home to cut out and play with their family, further reinforcing the lesson.  My students are really happy about this, as they always beg to take the games home that we play in class.

Extra's:

As a writing-reading extension after the game, I have my students trace, write and read the ordinal number words on a skill sheet.

Click on the link to view/print the ordinal number pilgrim & turkey templates.

Be sure and pop in tomorrow for two more ordinal number tips and FREEBIES!