A dice roller for the classroom board
Roll dice on the board where the whole class can see them. Pick one to six dice with six, ten, twelve or twenty sides, then press roll. The numbers are large enough to read from the back of the room. Free, with no account and no adverts.
How it works
Pick how many dice
One to six. One die settles who goes first; two is the ordinary throw for a game or a sum.
Pick which die
Six sides is the everyday die. Ten, twelve and twenty are there for maths lessons where you need to count past twelve.
Roll
Press Roll, or tap the space bar if you are standing at the board anyway. The dice tumble for a moment and then settle.
Read the total
The sum of all the dice stands under them. If the class should add up themselves, switch the total off beside the button.
Why on the board rather than on a desk
A real die rolls off the desk, lands against a pencil case, and cannot be seen from the back of the room. Every throw someone stands up to look, and that is the twenty seconds you lose.
On the board it is the same throw for everyone, at the same moment. The numbers stay up until you roll again, so anyone who doubted the result can read it back. There is nothing to re-roll either, because a die cannot land crooked here.
What the tool does not do is take turns or keep score. It rolls, and that is all. Who is up next and what the number means stay with you and the class.
In the lesson
For addition, put two dice on the board and let the class add them up. For subtraction, ask for the difference, or take the throw away from twenty.
For times tables the twelve sided die works better than the ordinary one: two of them bring up sums that run past six times six. The twenty sided die suits a number line or a round of estimating.
For probability, have the class tally fifty throws and put the marks on the board afterwards. Rolling six dice at once saves a quarter of an hour there.
And in a game or a group activity a die is simply a die: highest number starts, or the number picks which task you get.
How random the throw is
Every die is drawn on its own, exactly as real dice on a table are. Two sixes in a row can happen, and so can three of the same number. That feels wrong to most children, and it is one of the better things to work out with a class.
The throw is worked out in the browser at the moment you press the button. There is no list of results waiting in advance, and nothing about your throws is stored or sent anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to make an account?
No. Open the page and roll. Nothing is asked of you and there is nothing to install.
How many dice can I roll at once?
One to six. They are drawn as large as the board allows, so six dice are smaller than two, and both are still readable from the back of the room.
Which dice are included?
Six, ten, twelve and twenty sided. The six sided die shows ordinary pips; the other three show the number, the way a real twenty sided die does.
Is the roll really random?
Yes. Each die is drawn separately at the moment you roll, so two of the same number in a row are exactly as likely as two different ones.
Can I hide the total?
Yes. The switch beside the button takes the sum away from under the dice, which is what you want when the class should add up themselves. With one die there is no total anyway.
Can I turn the tumble off?
Yes. With Animation on, the dice are really thrown: they drop onto the table, bounce, turn onto their number, and the view then comes in closer. Switch it off and they are simply there. That saves a little over a second a throw, which adds up over forty throws in a lesson. If your system is set to show less movement, they do not tumble at all.
Does it work on an interactive whiteboard or touchscreen?
Yes. The button in the top right corner makes the page fill the screen, and the controls are large enough to hit with a finger. On a laptop the space bar rolls as well.
Does it cost anything?
No. The dice roller is free and stays free. There are no adverts on it and nothing is asked of you.
Other tools
- Timer
Timer and stopwatch with large digits and a sound at the end.
- Whiteboard
Write and draw on the board, with markers, an eraser and lines or squares.
- Maths flash cards
Sums flash up on the board one at a time while the class writes the answers down.
- Verb tenses
Fill in the verb in the sentence. Present, past and present perfect, with sentences about football, gaming or holidays.