Closest To

Age group
  • Primary (Age 6 to 9)
  • Junior/Intermediate (Age 9 to 12)

Curriculum Goal

Primary: Number Sense

Use place value when describing and representing multi-digit numbers in a variety of ways, including with base ten materials.

Junior: Number Sense

​Read, represent, compare, and order decimal numbers up to hundredths, in various contexts.

Related Links
Context
  • Students and teachers will gather either in a physical classroom setting (e.g., in a circle or around a table) or an online video conferencing platform.
  • Primary students should be familiar with place value for whole numbers while junior students should have experience with place value for decimal numbers.
Materials
In-person version
  • One standard 52-card deck with face cards and jokers removed
  • A sheet of paper with place values indicated (Appendix A)
Online version

Lesson

  • Demonstrate place values while using the cards as a visual cue; ask students to identify each place value position in the game (Appendix A).
  • Draw a card from the deck and ask students to collectively determine what the number would represent in each place value (e.g., 1, 10, 100).
  • Explain that the objective of the game is to create a number as close as possible to a target number by considering place values.
  • Variations:
    • 3-digit numbers
      • Deal three cards to each player. Challenge each player to create a number closest to the target number of 500 by using each card to represent a place value.
    • 4-digit numbers
      • Deal four cards to each player. Challenge each player to create a number closest to the target number of 500 by using each card to represent a place value.
    • Keep or Discard
      • Use the above target numbers or choose your own.
      • Each game consists of five rounds. Players receive one card each round and must decide whether to keep or discard it.
        • Keep:
          • If the student keeps the card, they may place it in one of the place values (e.g., ones, tens, hundreds, etc.). However, once placed, its place value position cannot be changed.
        • Discard:
          • Students may choose to discard their card, with a limit of two discards per game.
        • The student with the number closest to the target number receives three points while the student with the second closest number receives two points.
      • Decimal Places (Junior)
        • Use decimal target numbers instead of whole number target numbers.
        • The student with the number closest to the target number wins, following the same rules as the primary version.
An image of the playing board on playingcards.io for the OPM game Closest To.
An image of the playing board on playingcards.io for the OPM game Closest To
An image of the playing board on playingcards.io for the OPM game Closest To

Look Fors

  • Are students accurately using the terms “tens,” “hundreds,” “thousands” consistently?
  • Are students accurately recognizing the value of the digits in the tens, hundreds and thousands positions?
  • Do children understand that zero holds value and that the value is different depending on where the digit lies within the number?
  • Are students using different strategies to place their cards in a specific position in order to maximize their chance of winning?
  • Do Junior students understand that the decimal separates whole numbers from fractional (or part) numbers?
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