Guess My Number Maths Game for Years 3 and 4: Clue Detective
This guess my number maths game for Year 3 and Year 4 is Clue Detective, an interactive whiteboard game by Teach This aligned to the Australian Curriculum. Students use the properties of odd and even numbers and recall multiplication facts to rule numbers in or out. The game has five rounds, and each round reveals up to three clues about a mystery number. Teams win 3 points for solving after one clue, 2 points after two clues and 1 point after three. The teacher taps Next clue or Reveal answer. Each answer slide explains why the number fits every clue.
It opens in Microsoft PowerPoint on any interactive whiteboard, panel or projector, with no macros, no student logins and no student data collected. A full game takes about 10 minutes, which suits a number talk at the start of a maths lesson. Teams talk for 20 seconds before the captain answers, so every student hears the reasoning.
Learning goals
- We are learning to explain and use the properties of odd and even numbers.
- We are learning to recall multiplication facts for 3, 4, 5 and 10 and apply this to related division facts.
- We are learning to recall multiplication facts up to 10 x 10 and related division facts, developing efficient mental strategies.
- We are learning to recall multiplication facts of two, three, five and ten and related division facts.
- We are learning to investigate and use odd and even numbers.
- We are learning to identify and describe what makes a number odd or even.
- We are learning to recall multiplication facts up to 10 × 10 and related division facts.
Curriculum alignment
Australian Curriculum covers QLD / SA / WA / NT / TAS / ACT.
Differentiation
Modifications
Provide a hundreds chart and a times tables chart so students can cross out numbers as each clue is read. Pair students so one partner reads the clue and the other checks the chart.
Extensions
Ask teams to write their own three-clue mystery number for the other team to solve, with the clues getting more specific each time. Students can list every number that fits the first clue before the second clue appears.