Coordinate Quest

Across first, then up. Where is (3, 5)?

Game The coordinate plane 5.G.A.15.G.A.2 ALPACA · Elementary operations

For grown-ups

How long: 5 to 10 minutes is plenty. Short and frequent beats long and occasional — the early-numeracy trials with the largest effects ran eight weeks or less.
The strategy to reinforce: “Across, then up” — Always read the across number first, then the up number. (3, 5) means 3 across and 5 up. If they stall, remind them of this rather than giving the answer.
When they get one wrong: the page shows the working. Read it together rather than moving straight on. Feedback that explains is worth several times more than feedback that only marks right or wrong, and that gap is wider in maths than in any other subject.
On the timer: it is off unless you turn it on, and it is never needed. Use it only once the skill is comfortable, never to introduce it.
Print it too: doing the same problems on paper a few days later is worth more than doing twice as many today.

What this practises

Reading and plotting points in the first quadrant.

Reading x before y is a convention, and swapping them is a common and durable error. Showing the point already plotted and asking for its name isolates the ordering from the mechanics of plotting.

The underlying idea: An ordered pair locates a point; the order is a convention that must be learned.
Where this sits in Illustrative Mathematics: 5th grade Unit 7: Shapes on the Coordinate Plane
Sources: Illustrative Mathematics / Kendall Hunt (2024) all references →

Related measured skill: ALPACA · Elementary operations. What this means