Lonesome Llama Activity

Lonesome Llama is an excellent first day of school activity/first week of school activity to teach students how to effectively communicate in a group. The activity is from IMP (Interactive Mathematics Program)

Groups of students are provided with a deck of cards. Each card features a different llama’s house. Students must work together to figure out which llama’s house is unique. In other words, the goal of the task is to identify the singleton card which does not have a match.

When I have used the Lonesome Llama Activity with students, it has been a bit of a struggle for them. I typically allot a bit over thirty minutes for this activity. Sometimes groups are successful. I have had groups of students give up.

Often students don’t realize just how careful and precise they have to be with their language and description in order to be successful at this activity.

The Lonesome Llama cards are intentionally designed to be very tricky. Can you spot the difference between this card and the card shared above? Would your students spot all the differences?

You might be thinking, “Of course, my students can tell the difference between circles and ovals!” Did you also spot that the triangular doors are facing different ways? There is a key element of this activity that I haven’t specified yet that makes it just that much trickier.

There are 46 cards in the lonesome llama deck. Each card has four varying characteristics. Either the cards will feature circles or ovals. They will have either a hexagon or an octagon on the left-hand side. The trapezoid on the right-hand side will either point up or down. Finally, the triangular door will have the hypotenuse on either the left or the right.

I’ve received several questions asking how there can be a singleton card when there are an even number of cards in the deck. This is possible because some of the cards show up in the deck 2 times. Others show up 3 or 4 times.

I have made it easier on teachers to check if students have found the correct singleton card by uploading a picture of it in the downloads section below. I highly recommend any teacher spend time sorting the cards into groups on their own before doing the activity in order to get a better idea of how the activity works.

Students may only look at their own cards. One student’s hand may have ALL circles while another student’s hand may have ALL ovals. Thus, they may not realize that they need to be specific about what shape they have.

One of my groups got in major trouble when they failed to realize that some of the cards have octagons while other cards have hexagons.

Lonesome Llama Introduction

I introduce the Lonesome Llama Activity to my students with this story:

In the land where llamas run free, llamas live in fancy houses decorated with wonderful shapes. Most llamas live in houses that look like the house of at least one other llama. Llamas who live in identical houses tend to play together.

One llama, however, has a house different from all the rest. This means this llama is left all alone. If you can help find the lonesome llama, perhaps you can introduce that llama to others.  

Lonesome Llama Instructions

1. Give each group a deck of lonesome llama cards. I print each deck on a different color of paper so if I find a lost card on the ground it can be easily reunited with its deck.
2. Have one student in each group shuffle the cards and deal them evenly between the group members.
3. Each student may only look at their own cards.
4. Students may describe their cards in words to the other students, but they cannot let another student see their cards.
5. Students may not trade cards.
6. Students may not draw pictures or diagrams.
7. If a student discards a card, they must keep it in their own pile.
8. Given these restrictions, groups must work together to find a way to determine which llama house does not have a match. Essentially, they are identifying the singleton card of the deck.
9. The task ends when the singleton card is identified, even if the identified card is incorrect.

I created a Lonesome Llama task card to give to each group with the instructions and expectations of the activity.

This activity was intended to practice the following classroom groupwork norms:

• Make a plan
• Agree on strategies
• Describe accurately and carefully

Other activities I have shared in the past to teach groupwork norms at the beginning of the school year include Broken Circles, Survival in the Desert, Two Buckets Puzzle, Guess My Rule, and Rainbow Logic.

I created a Lonesome Llama Reflection Sheet to help groups debrief after the activity.

Other Similar Activities

Are llama houses not your thing? Stanford offers two very similar activities on their complex instruction website: Island Maps and Lots of Dots (must download zip file). Both versions involve challenging students to identify the singleton card.