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Fizz Buzz – A Divisibility Game

There's a video explaining the Fizz Buzz rules at Byrdseed.TV ➔

Fizz Buzz’s rules are super simple. A group of students sit in a circle and start counting up. Then we add the twists:

  • If a number is divisible by 3, the student says “fizz” rather than the number.
  • If a number is divisible by 5, they say “buzz” rather than the number.
  • If a number is divisible by both, they say “fizz buzz”

And that’s really it for the rules of Fizz Buzz! It’s an easy-to-learn, but hard-to-master game – a perfect example of a low floor, high ceiling math activity.

A sample game of Fizz Buzz would start like this:

1, 2, fizz, 4, buzz, fizz, 7, 8, fizz, buzz, 11, fizz, 13, 14, fizz buzz, 16, and so on…

When a student says the wrong thing or takes too long (breaking the rhythm), they leave the circle. The remaining kids continue on. Eventually, there is one winner.

A Task That Scales

This is a beautiful example of an easily differentiated task because, rather than developing three separate activities for kids at different levels, you just adjust this one task.

  • Group kids by ability and let them go as fast as they can handle.
  • Too complicated? Alter the rules a bit. Start with just “fizz.”
  • Too simple? Change it up. Make 7 “buzz” instead of 5. Add a third sound. Add a fourth sound! Use roots instead of divisibility. Change to a different number system. Switch to Spanish!

You could (with very slight adaptations) use this task with everyone from primary grade students through college math majors.

Get One Game A Week!

I'll send you instructions for one paper-and-pencil strategy game every week to use in your classroom (or with your own family)! Get A Game Each Week!

Byrdseed.TV: Strategy Games

Quick-to-learn, brain-busting, and (best of all) free-to-play strategy games! A series of videos explaining delightfully enriching strategy games. Check out Byrdseed.TV's "Strategy Games" Archive!

📂 Filed under Games and Math.

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