Back to Back Game

1. Ask students to find a partner.
2. Give each pair a set of shapes to use. Be sure that there are multiple copies of each shape.
3. Ask each pair to sit back to back and decide who will use the blocks first.
4. The one who has the blocks should make a picture or design with them.
5. The student who made the picture should give the remaining blocks to the other student and explain how the shapes are arranged. Students should use words describing the shapes as well as the following positional words; between/above/below, under/over, behind/in front of/next to, and left/right. The partners should listen to the instructions and try to create a copy of the design based on the description. The second student may ask clarifying questions.
6. After the students are done, they should look at the two designs to see how well they were able to communicate.
7. The two students should switch roles for the next round.

This work placed into the public domain by the Riverbend Community Math Center.