Silent go fish
ES1 – A thinking mathematically context for practise focussed on representing numbers to 10 using hands and playing cards
Syllabus
Syllabus outcomes and content descriptors from Mathematics K–10 Syllabus © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2023
Outcomes
- MAO-WM-01
- MAE-RWN-01
- MAE-RWN-02
Collect resources
You will need:
playing cards 1-10
someone to play with.
Watch
Watch Silent go fish video (5:24).
(Duration: 5 minutes and 24 seconds)
[Text over a blue background: Silent go fish. In the lower right-hand corner of the screen is the waratah of the NSW Government logo. Small font text in the lower left-hand corner of the screen reads: NSW Mathematics Strategy Professional Learning team (NSWMS PL team).]
Speaker
Silent go fish.
[Black title on a white background: You will need…
A bullet point below reads:
· playing cards 1-10.
To the left of the text is an image of two hands holding a spread deck of playing cards, with the picture icons face up.]
Speaker
You will need playing cards one to ten.
[White text over a blue background: Let’s play!]
Speaker
Let's play.
[A white piece of paper sits in the centre of a blue tabletop.]
Speaker
Hello there, mathematicians. Welcome back. I have one of my favourite mathematicians joining me today. Hi, Holly.
Holly
Hi, Sarah.
Speaker
How are you?
Holly
Good.
Speaker
Are we ready to play some mathematics?
Holly
Yeah.
Speaker
Yes. Now, Holly, we're going to show everybody out there one of our favourite games today called Silent Go Fish. Now, this is very similar to normal Go Fish, except there's a little bit of difference in that when we ask for a card, we're not allowed to say the number that we want, we have to use our hands to show each other.
[The speaker holds their hand out flat over the paper, indicating the number five. Holly’s hand appears from the top of the screen, thumb pressed to forefinger.]
So, Holly, if I wanted a five, I would do this. Holly, do you have a...?
Holly
Then I might go... Yes.
[The speaker shuffles a deck of red playing cards with gold detailing. They deal seven cards face down in a pile near the top of the paper, and seven cards at the bottom. Holly gathers the top pile off screen. The speaker places the remaining deck face down in the middle of the paper.]
Speaker
Yes. OK. To play Silent Go Fish, you need to deal seven cards each. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. And here's our draw pile in the middle.
[Holly places cards face up near the top of the screen. The suit icons have been replaced by different picture icons. Holly reveals pairs of the 10 of starfish, 6 of ladybugs, and the 3 of cats. Holly shows one remaining face down card in her hand.]
Speaker
Oh, and Holly's already got a pair. So, the idea of Go Fish is that we're trying to match our numbers, aren't we, Holly?
Holly
I only have one more card left.
[DESCRIPTION:. Holly points to each of her pairs of cards. The speaker rearranges Holly’s paired cards so they sit neatly on top of each other in a row.]
Speaker
Oh, my goodness. So, Holly, you've already got a... What do you have here, Holly?
Holly
There's three of cats, there's six of ladybugs and the ten of starfish.
Speaker
(LAUGHS) Ten of starfish. OK. So, you've got two threes, you've got two sixes and you've got two tens there. OK. So, the aim of the game is to try and get as many pairs as you can, as many matches as you can.
Holly
Do I go first?
Speaker
So, I'll do the same thing.
[The speaker reveals their hand of cards to the viewer. From left to right, they hold a 7 card, a 4 card, a 2 card, a 6 card, an 8 card, a 10 card, and a 4 card. They take the two identical 4 of poodles cards and place them face up at the bottom of the paper.]
Speaker
And I might just quickly show everybody mine. Can you see any matches there? (WHISPERING) Yeah, you can, can't you? I can see this one, too. OK. So, I can match my two fours. Any other matches? No, none at the moment.
[The speaker moves their hand of cards out of view.]
Speaker
OK. Alright, Holly, I'll let you go first. Now, remember, Silent Go Fish.
[Holly holds out one finger. The speaker reveals their cards to the viewer.]
Holly
Give me a...
Speaker
Do we have a one? Nope. Sorry, Holly, go fish.
[Holly draws a card from the deck. The speaker holds out two fingers.]
Speaker
OK. Hmm. Holly, do you have a...
[Holly passes a 2 of flowers card to the speaker. The speaker places the card down in a pair with the 2 of flowers from their hand.]
Holly
I just picked it up!
Speaker
Oh, that was lucky. Thank you very much. And now I can make my match of two.
Holly
Did you want to go again?
Speaker
Oh, that's right. That's a rule, isn't it? So, if you are successful in getting a pair, you get to go again.
[The speaker holds out ten fingers.]
Speaker
OK. Now, Holly, do you have a...
Holly
Go fish.
Speaker
Oh, you don't have a ten. OK.
[The speaker draws a card from the deck. Holly holds out one finger.]
Holly
Give me a...
Speaker
Go fish, Holly. I don't have a one.
[Holly draws a card from the deck. The speaker holds out five fingers.]
Speaker
Alright. Holly, do you have a...
Holly
I just picked it up.
[Holly hands over the 5 of crescents card to the speaker. The speaker pairs it with the matching card from their hand and places it down on the paper.]
Speaker
Oh, my goodness. I'm getting good at picking up those lucky cards. Alright. Holly, now I get another go 'cause I was successful.
[The speaker holds out six fingers.]
Speaker
Do you have a...
Holly
Go fish.
[White text over a blue background: A little while later…
The screen changes back to the gameplay setup. Four pairs are laid out at the top of the paper: the 3 of cats, the 6 of ladybugs, the 10 of starfish and the 1 of candles. Five pairs are at the bottom of the paper: the 9 of pancakes, the 4 of poodles, the 2 of flowers, the 5 of crescents, and the 7 of hearts.
Holly holds out nine fingers.]
Holly
Do you have a...
Speaker
Oh, hang on. I can't quite see. Oh, a five and a four. Oh, yeah, I know that's nine because it's one less than ten. I can see your thumb missing.
[The speaker reveals their cards to the viewer. From left to right, they are a 4 card, a 7 card, a 6 card, an 8 card, and a 10 card.]
Speaker
OK. Do I have a nine? Do I have a nine? No, I do not, Holly. Go fish.
[Holly draws a card. The gameplay continues, with each player holding out their hands to display numbers, exchanging cards and drawing from the deck. They match pairs and lay them out on the paper.
The screen changes to a final layout of both players’ paired cards. Five pairs of cards sit in a row on Holly’s side, and ten pairs of cards are arranged in two rows on the speaker’s side. Holly gestures to the speaker’s pairs.]
Holly
See a five and a five.
Speaker
Five and a five. So, I have ten.
[The speaker arranges Holly’s cards so they are all in view.]
Speaker
And Holly, you have... And we can put yours in line with mine. And I can see that you have five. So, this time I was the winner.
Holly
Yep.
Speaker
OK, have fun playing Silent Go Fish, everyone.
[White text on a blue background: What’s (some of) the mathematics?]
Speaker
So, what's some of the mathematics?
[Black title over a white background: What’s (some of) the mathematics?
Bullet points below read:
· Games provide us with the opportunity to practise our mathematical skills and understanding.
- When we were playing silent go fish, we used our knowledge of ‘same’ and ‘different’ to find and make matches.
Below the text is an image of the silent go fish game, with cards stacked in pairs and the speaker revealing their hand of cards to the viewer.]
Speaker
Games provide us with the opportunity to practice our mathematical skills and understanding. When we were playing Silent Go Fish, we used our knowledge of same and different to find and make matches.
[Title: What’s (some of) the mathematics?
Bullet points below read:
· We used our knowledge of finger patterns to work out what number our partner needed to make a match.
· We used knowledge of spatial patterns and structures, like a ten-frame, to work out who had the most or least number of pairs.
Below the first bullet point is an image of Holly holding out nine fingers over the game setup. Below the second bullet point is an image of the final laid out pairs of cards at the end of the game.]
Speaker
We also used our knowledge of finger patterns to work out what number our partner needed to make a match. We also used knowledge of spatial patterns and structures like a ten frame to work out who had the most or least number of pairs.
[Over a grey background, the red waratah of the NSW Government logo appears amongst red, white and blue circles. Text: Copyright State of New South Wales (Department of Education), 2021.]
[End of transcript]
How to play
Each player gets 7 cards. The rest of the cards are placed in a pile in the middle as the draw pile.
Players try to make matches, that is, pairs of cards that are the same.
Once players can't make any more matches using their own cards, they can take turns to ask their opponent for a card, using their fingers to show the number they need. For example, to ask my opponent for a 9, I would show them 9 fingers.
If their opponent has that card, they must give it to the asking player.
If they don't have that card, they say 'go fish' and the player gets a card from the central pile of cards.
- If at any point a player has no cards left, they can pick up another 7 cards from the draw pile.
Play continues until all there are no cards left in the draw pile and/or all matches have been made.
The player with the most matches at the end is the winner!
Discuss
How many pairs did you collect?
Is this more than, less than or the same as your opponent?
What’s the difference between how many pairs you collected and how many pairs your opponent collected?
If you played the game again tomorrow, what’s an adaptation we could make?
