Find the 5th number in a pattern

💡 How it plays and why it helps

Start at 7, add 3 each time: what is the 5th number? Find the 5th number in a pattern asks only that, ten times a round, with new numbers on every card, starting points from 1 to 20 and steps from 3 to 25. Your child types the answer in this Grade 5 game. Each one is checked, and the hint suggests writing the numbers in order.

A rule like add 3 builds a pattern one jump at a time. Writing it out, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, makes the 5th number visible, and it also shows something worth noticing: the start counts as the 1st number, so the 5th is only four jumps away. Spotting four jumps of 3 inside the gap from 7 to 19 is early algebra.

Five numbers, four jumps. Count five jumps instead and 7 with add 3 lands on 22, one step past the answer. Ask, "Is 7 the 1st number or the starting line?" Then point to each number while counting. Praise the care: "You counted the start as number one."