Multiplication tables and dominoesAuthor(s): Joseph KennedySource: The Arithmetic Teacher, Vol. 10, No. 5 (May 1963), p. 283Published by: National Council of Teachers of MathematicsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41186771 .

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some sensible guide lines enabling teachers to decide which materials are worthy of the investment of professional energy and

school financial resources. It is hoped that these criteria will be helpful in the profes- sional decisions facing us in this area.

Multiplication tables and dominoes Uominoes are useful in teaching mathe- matics. For the beginner they provide sets of dots which can be matched one-to-one. Such matching is preliminary to rational counting. And if the dominoes are colored then the youngster begins to learn colors as well. The grouping of dots on the dominoes helps him to recognize the vari- ous subgroups of a given number.

The game of dominoes is played as follows: Each youngster draws a "hand" of seven from the entire collection of dominoes placed face down on the table. The player whose hand contains the high- est double places this domino face up on the playing surface. Other players in order then play to it by matching it with one of theirs. When a player is unable to match one end of one of his dominoes to an open end of one of the dominoes which has been played, he draws from the, stock left un- turned. The first player to play all of his dominoes wins.

A more complicated version of the game involves the addition and multiplication facts. In this domino game the same rules as given above are followed but a score is kept. A player scores points when the sum of the pips on the exposed ends of the played dominoes is a multiple of five. The figure shows the board after Player A has just played the one-four domino. He scores 15 points. If Player В then plays domino one-six his score will be 20 points. If the sum is not a multiple of five then no points are scored.

This version of the game gives the youngster practice in adding and practice on the 5's multiplication table. But there

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is no reason why the game can not be further revised to give the youngster prac- tice on other tables as well. For example, a player might score points only when the sum equalled a multiple of three or four or six or eight, or whatever other table needed to be drilled upon. This is not only a drill activity to fix certain facts, but it is also a preparatory activity. That is, the teacher might post a list of numbers which are multiples of seven. If the domino game were played with only these numbers to be used in scoring, then the youngsters would learn the multiples of seven. Later they would begin to realize that these multiples constitute the 7's table.

Get out the dominoes for a good rainy day mathematics activity! - Joseph Ken- nedy, Indiana State College, Terre Haute, Indiana) Violet Blume, Crestwoôd School, Paris, Illinois.

May 196S 283

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