One of my favorite games for simultaneous math and language development is “I have… Who has…?” It takes a little prep in the beginning, but once you have the cards prepared you can use it endlessly. The students love it and engagement is high.
Where to get cards
You can make your own, but I don’t suggest that unless you really can’t find premade cards. Making your own is pretty time consuming. I usually get cards from Teachers Pay Teachers. I print the cards on cardstock and laminate them to make them last. You can see my “I have… Who has…” cards here, which are all available in both English and Spanish.
How do you play?
Shuffle the cards and distribute them to students. If you have too many cards, you can give some students more than one. If you don’t have enough cards, you can strategically pair some students up.
Give students time to study their cards. Have students practice reading their card and make sure they know what the answer on their card is. I have students do this in a pair share and then raise their hand if they are stuck. For example, if we are doing a decimal version, students need to be able to read “0.3” as 3 tenths. Taking the time to do this step gives students more language practice and makes for a smoother game play. I tell students that it’s not a race, but it’s more fun if everyone is ready and paying attention.
Begin game play. One card will say something like, “I have the first card. Who has 5 tenths?” The person who has a card with “0.5” will stand up and read their card, saying something like, “I have 5 tenths. Who has 3 tenths?” Gameplay continues until you get to the last card.
Replay. Once we’ve finished a round, I give students 30 seconds to trade, and then we start the process again. Students really love this game. It can also be a great incentive for the end of a lesson. “If we all pay attention during math today, we can save some time for ‘I have who has’ at the end.”
Conclusion
As you can see, “I have… who has…” is a fun way to build language and math skills. Students practice the vocabulary and the math concepts. If you’re interested, check out my “I have… Who has…” card decks on Teachers Pay Teachers in English & Spanish.
