Would you like to get started with real-life math projects in your classroom? I’d love to get you started with a free math project so you know exactly what to expect! Even if this particular math project doesn’t fit your classroom needs, it will give you a good idea of exactly what you can expect to find in my other projects for other topics and grade levels.

This free math project is centered around a camping theme and is best suited to Grades 2 and 3. Students will work with addition and subtraction within 100 to complete camping-related tasks. Many teachers report that their students didn’t even realize they were doing math while working on this project!

There are two ways to get this math project:

• Purchase on TpT here.

• Or get it for free here!

Here’s a quick summary of exactly what you’ll find inside The Camping Trip Math Project:

TASK #1: CAMPING SUPPLIES

Your family has decided to start camping! But first, you’ll need to buy some supplies! You already have a tent, but you have $75 to spend on other supplies. Decide which supplies you will purchase with your $75.

TASK#2: CAMPSITE PLANNING

Altogether there are six families coming on your camping trip! Let’s figure out the best group camping site for everyone. Then work with campsite costs.

TASK#3: GROCERY SHOPPING

You’re in charge of grocery shopping for your family. Use your budget to decide what you will buy. Figure out the total amount.

TASK #4: SETTING UP THE SITE

You’ve arrived at the campground and now it’s time to set up your campsite! Figure out how long it will take to set up. Can you complete all of the setup within the hour? Then you’ll need to haul firewood.

TASK #5: S’MORES

It’s not a bonfire without s’mores! Crack the code to reveal the instructions for making a s’more!

TASK #6: TIME FOR GAMES

There are lots of outdoor games to play while you are camping. You and a few of the others set up three different games to play. Use the data from each game to answer the questions

TASK #7: CANOE RENTALS

It’s a beautiful day so you decide to go canoeing! Let’s go to the local canoe rental shop! Work out the cost of canoes, lifejackets, and other supplies for each family.

TASK #8: GOING FOR A HIKE

The campground has a popular hiking trail. Everyone decides to go on a group hike. Use the map to answer the questions.

TASK #9: BIRD WATCHING

As you hike, you decide to graph all of the different birds that you see. Interpret the data from the graph.

TASK #10: GOING FOR ICE CREAM

After the hike, you’re starving! Let’s go to the campground ice cream shop! Figure out the total cost.

GREAT FOR CLASSROOM TRANSFORMATIONS!

This project is a great opportunity to transform your classroom and add another level of student engagement!

While your students work, use your projector to put a “fire” on, and serve hot chocolate and marshmallows! Some teachers have even set up a tent in their classroom which serves as the station where kids work on this project.

Here’s the link to where you can get this project for FREE!

Looking for more real-life math projects? See them all here or check out some of the most popular ones below.

PIN THIS POST FOR LATER

The post Free Real-Life Math Project appeared first on Shelley Gray.

WHAT IS A NEAR DOUBLE?

A near double is a math fact that is close to a doubles fact. For example, 6+7 is considered a near double because it is close to the doubles fact 6+6.

Near doubles could be doubles plus one facts, doubles plus two facts, or doubles minus one facts.

Let’s take a look at the doubles fact 5+5. 5+6 would be the double plus one (5+5 plus one more). 5+7 would be the double plus two (5+5 plus two more). 5+4 would be the double minus one (5+5 subtract one).

EXPLORATION VS MEMORIZATION

The near doubles strategy teaches us that we can make connections and form relationships between facts. However, we must be careful that we are not teaching this in a procedural way where our students “memorize” this strategy.

If you hear your students saying things like, “I can’t remember the strategy to use when the numbers are one apart!” or “I know I’m supposed to use the doubles plus one strategy for this problem, but I can’t remember how!” then they are not understanding this strategy in a conceptual way. Instead, they are trying to memorize it and apply it.

Ideally, we want to give our students the opportunity to explore this strategy and construct their own understanding. The best way to do this is through lots (and lots!) of time with manipulatives.

TEACHING THE NEAR DOUBLES IN A CONCEPTUAL WAY

Take a look at this ten frame. The colors make it very easy to see 5+6 as 5+5 and then one more.

Here’s another example where we can see 3+5 as 3+3 and then two more.

We could also model near doubles on a rekenrek. Here’s a representation of 5+6, which we can clearly see as 5+5 and then one more.

BIG GOAL

When it comes to math fact fluency, our big goal is real understanding and flexibility. We want our students to see pictures in their minds rather than only digits.

To help our students see these pictures in their minds, we need to give them time to work with manipulatives and see the math in different ways. I talk about this in-depth in my post on the Concrete Representational Abstract Model.

Here’s a video with ideas for teaching this strategy in a conceptual way.

Let’s get away from math fact memorization and move towards math fact understanding!

Looking for resources to help you teach the near doubles strategy?

PIN FOR LATER

The post The Near Doubles Addition Strategy appeared first on Shelley Gray.

Object: to be the first to spell the word “TARGET.”

Materials: a deck of cards with J, Q, and K’s removed

Instructions:

• Remove the Jacks, Queens, and Kings from a deck of cards and shuffle well.
• The dealer deals three cards to each player.
• The dealer then flips a card over and places it in the center. This is the target number.
• At the same time, players turn over their three cards and lie them face up on the table. The goal is to use those three cards to hit the target number.
• For example, if the target number is 10, and a player has a 4, 5, and 9, he could use the equation: “9+5-4.”
• If a player can make the target number, he writes a “T” on his paper.
• Both players then “sweep” their cards to the side, along with the target number card. The dealer then deals another hand and play continues.

If neither player can make the target number, a fourth card is dealt to each player. Now players can use 3 of the 4 cards to make the target number. Cards continue to be dealt until one player can make the target number.

The goal is to be the first player to spell TARGET.

Helpful Tip:

It is helpful to use two decks so that you have more cards to play with. Decks do not need to be complete.

Watch the video version of the game explanation here:

Download the printable game instructions HERE.

The post Target Number: A Card Game to Practice Math Facts appeared first on Shelley Gray.

If you find your head spinning when you think about all the addition strategies that you should be teaching, you are certainly not alone. Although teaching addition is one of the most important math concepts that we encounter, it comes with challenges.

First of all – time. How do we find the time to do a really good job of teaching the different addition strategies so that our students possess excellent understanding, while also doing a really good job of teaching everything else in our overwhelming curriculum?

Second, differentiation. All of our students learn at different speeds and in different ways. We can’t expect them all to learn the addition facts and strategies at the same time, but how do we ensure that each student is working to his full potential?

One last big challenge is the balance between mental math strategies and memorization. We know that strategies are important. We want our students to UNDERSTAND number, rather that simply memorizing the facts. However, automaticity is important too! How can we reach this balance?

Fortunately, there are specific strategies that we can teach to make addition easier for our students, and accessible for all of them.

Before I begin – if you are looking for a resource where all of the work is done for you, you may be interested in The Addition Station, a self-paced, student-centered math station where students work through the basic addition facts and strategies, mastering each one as they go. Strategies are integrated in a strategic manner, ensuring that students build on their understanding progressively. See The Addition Station for Grades 1-2 HERE and The Addition Station for Grades 3-4 HERE.

Alright, so let’s talk about addition strategies.

Strategies are ESSENTIAL, for all operations. We want our students to be able to think flexibly about numbers, and use strategies naturally. This means that understanding is key. Automaticity (quick recall) will naturally follow.

Here are some effective strategies for addition:

Plus 1, 2, 3 and Extensions

In younger grades, we begin with the Plus 1, 2, and 3 facts. We can teach Plus 1 as 1 more, Plus 2 as 2 more, and Plus 3 as 3 more. As our students are ready for more of a challenge, we can extend these facts into the tens, hundreds, and even thousands. For example, the fact 7+1 can be extended to 70+10, 700+100, or 7000+1000. Teach your students to look for familiar facts in these bigger problems, so that when they need to solve a fact like 50+20, they think, “I  know that 5+2=7, so 50+20=70.” During the extensions, be sure to emphasize place value. For example, we can think of 500+200 as 5 groups of 100 plus 2 groups of 100 to make 7 groups of 100.

Counting On

If students have been working with Plus 1, 2, and 3, they have technically already been working with the counting on strategy. Counting On is an introductory addition strategy that should only be used to add 1, 2, 3, or 4 to a number. Beyond this it gets confusing and can cause errors. To count on, we begin with the higher number and count on. For example, for 17+3, we think, “17…18, 19, 20.” For 2+34, we start with 34 and count on: “34…35, 36.” Dot patterns, ten frames, and number lines are all excellent tools for counting on. Read more about counting on, and download some free printables to help you HERE.

Extending the Doubles and Near Doubles

The doubles are typically facts that become automatic early on. The near doubles are facts like 4+5, where we encourage students to think, “I know that 4+4 is 8, and 1 more is 9.” We can also extend these facts. For example, when a student is faced with 30+30, he can think, “I know that 3+3 is 6, so 30+30 is 60.” Again in this level, we encourage students to think in groups of 10, 100, or 1000. For example, 200+200 can be thought of as 2 groups of 100 plus 2 groups of 100. Read more about extending the doubles and near doubles, and download some free printables to help you HERE.

Plus 7, 8, and 9

When we add 7, 8, or 9 to a number there are a couple of different approaches that we can use. First of all, we can add 10 and then take some away. Alternatively, we can make a 10 and then add the rest. I’ve discussed both of these approaches in detail in THIS BLOG POST. You’ll also find some free printables to help you!

Left-to-Right Addition

Left-to-right addition (also known as front-end addition or the partial sums method) is one of the most powerful mental math strategies for teaching addition of 2 or 3-digit numbers. However, many people are confused by why it is important and why it can be more effective than traditional vertical addition.

With left-to-right addition we add from left to right. So in a two-digit equation we add the tens first and then the ones. For example for 25+34 we first add 20+30 to make 50, then 5+4 to make 9, and then 50+9 to make the final sum of 59.

For a detailed explanation and rationalization of this strategy, as well as free printables to help you teach it, please see THIS POST.

Using Friendly Numbers

A friendly number is a number that is easy to work with. For example, multiples of 10 are “friendly” because they are easy to work with when we add or subtract.

When we use the “friendly number” strategy for addition, it helps us work with big numbers. This is because we are essentially breaking the equation up into more manageable parts.

We begin by getting to a friendly number, which is typically a multiple of 10, 100, or 100 – depending on the numbers that we are working with. Then we add on the remainder.

For example, for the equation 27+9, we could first get to the friendly number 30 by adding 3, and then add the remaining 6 to make 36.

For a complete, detailed explanation of the friendly number strategy for addition, as well as some free printables to help you, please see THIS POST.

Breaking Up An Addend

Breaking up, or decomposing, an addend is a fantastic mental math strategy for addition that can be used in many different circumstances. This strategy involves breaking up one of the numbers in an equation into more manageable parts. Like many other mental math strategies, this encourages students to think flexibly and to manipulate numbers in different ways. This is the big goal of mental math!

For a detailed explanation of this strategy as well as free printables to help you teach it, please see THIS POST.

Compensation

Compensation is a mental math strategy for multi-digit addition that involves adjusting one of the addends to make the equation easier to solve. Some students may prefer this strategy as an alternative to left-to-right addition or the breaking up the second number strategy.

Compensation is a useful strategy for making equations easier to solve. More importantly, it encourages students to think flexibly about numbers.

Let’s solve the equation 34+49 using the compensation strategy.

First, since 49 is so close to 50, we will add 34+50. This is easier to solve. Then, since we added one extra to the original equation, we have to subtract one from the final answer.

To see a more detailed explanation of this strategy, and download some free printables to teach it, please see THIS POST.

NEXT STEPS:

Ready to get really strategic with your approach to teaching math facts?

• Implement The Addition Station – a self-paced, student-centered program for the basic addition facts and strategies (see Grades 1-2 HERE and Grades 3-4 HERE).
• Try out Addition Strategies Task Cards as a way for your students to practice each addition strategy in isolation. See the full bundle for 1st Grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, or 4th grade.

The post Effective Strategies for Teaching Addition Facts appeared first on Shelley Gray.

WHAT IS A FRIENDLY NUMBER?

In this case, we refer to friendly numbers as a number that is easy to work with. For example, multiples of 10 are “friendly” because they are easy to work with when we add or subtract.

USING FRIENDLY NUMBERS AS AN ADDITION STRATEGY

When we use the “friendly number” strategy for addition, it helps us work with big numbers. This is because we are essentially breaking the equation up into more manageable parts.

We begin by getting to a friendly number, which is typically a multiple of 10, 100, or 100 – depending on the numbers that we are working with. Then we add on the remainder.

Let’s take a look at the “using friendly numbers” addition strategy in action.

EXAMPLES

In this example we will add 27+9 using the friendly number strategy.

First, let’s put the number 27 on our empty number line.

Now let’s get to a friendly number. We know that the number 30 is “friendly” or easy to work with, so we can add 3 to get to 30.

Lastly, we add the remaining 6 and get our answer of 36.

Suppose we are solving 265+18.

First we will write 265 on our empty number line.

Then we can add 5 from the 18 to get to a friendly number 270.

We have 13 left, so now we can simply add the 13 to the 270 to get a final answer of 283.

BIG IDEAS

Mental Math is not about following a one size fits all process or procedure. Mental Math involves being able to think flexibly about numbers and manipulate them in different ways.

For the equations shown above, this friendly number strategy worked well. But students also could have used left to right addition, breaking up the an addend, compensation, or even the plus 7,8,9 strategy.

Our goal is to teach our students to think flexibly about numbers so that mental computation comes easily to them.

NEXT STEPS:

• Download a free activity to practice the using friendly numbers addition strategy HERE.

• Find task cards to reinforce the “using friendly numbers” strategy here:
  • Using Friendly Numbers task cards for fourth grade
  • Using Friendly Numbers task cards for third grade

The post Using Friendly Numbers: An Addition Strategy appeared first on Shelley Gray.

Compensation is a mental math strategy for multi-digit addition that involves adjusting one of the addends to make the equation easier to solve. Some students may prefer this strategy as an alternative to left-to-right addition or the breaking up the second number strategy.

Compensation is a useful strategy for making equations easier to solve. More importantly, it encourages students to think flexibly about numbers.

HOW TO PERFORM THE COMPENSATION STRATEGY

Let’s solve the equation 34+49 using the compensation strategy.

First, since 49 is so close to 50, we will add 34+50. This is easier to solve. Then, since we added one extra to the original equation, we have to subtract one from the final answer.

Let’s suppose that we want to solve the equation 132+64. We can use compensation to add these two numbers. With compensation, there is no one right way to perform the strategy. In this case, let’s begin by taking 4 away from the 64 and add 132+60 to make 192. This is an easy equation to solve. Now, since we subtracted 4 from the original equation, we have to add 4 to the answer. 192+4=196.

NEXT STEPS:

• If you would like full support for teaching addition strategies in your classroom, check out The Addition Station HERE.  These Math Stations are self-paced, student-centered stations for the basic math strategies. Students move through the levels at their own pace, ensuring that they are always challenged, and working to their full potential.
• Read other posts on this website about addition strategies HERE.
• Download a FREE activity for practicing the compensation strategy HERE.

The post Compensation: An Addition Strategy appeared first on Shelley Gray.

ADDING 10 AND THEN TAKING 1, 2, OR 3 AWAY

MAKING A 10

Let’s discuss both of these concepts.

ADDING 10 AND THEN TAKING AWAY

This is a strategy that you will focus on in younger grades, particularly first and second grade. It can still be reinforced in older grades as well. When our students are faced with an equation like 4+9=___, we encourage them to first think, “4+10=14 and then we can take one away to make 13.”

We focus on adding 10 first because adding 10 is easy.

Similarly, to add 8 to a number, we can add 10 first and then take away 2, since 8 is 2 less than 10. So for the equation 7+8=___, we can think, “7+10=17, and then we can take two away to make 15.”

MAKING A 10

When students get a bit older, we can extend this knowledge. Now we tend to focus even more on flexible thinking – the big goal of mental math.

Now, when our students are faced with an equation such as 4+9=___, we can encourage them to think, “I can take 1 away from the 4 and give it to the 9 to make 10, and then add the remaining 3 to make 13.”

To add 8+7, we can think, “I will take 2 from the 7 and give it to the 8 to make a 10, and then add the remaining 5 to make 15.”

This concept can be extended to bigger numbers as well – numbers that end in 7, 8, or 9. For example, to add 27+5, take 3 away from the 5 and give it to the 27 to make 30, and then add the remaining 2 to make 32.”

MORE THAN JUST AN ISOLATED STRATEGY

One of the main conflicting opinions with strategies like this is that they are impractical and take too long. However, we must remember that the goal of mental math is more than simply getting a right answer. The big goal is being able to think flexibly about numbers.

When we model strategies like this one, we are showing that numbers can be manipulated. We can give some, and take away some in order to come up with our final answer. You will find that once students get comfortable with this strategy, they begin using similar ideas in other circumstances. Flexible mathematical thinking is a big goal.

WAYS TO REINFORCE THESE CONCEPTS

When we introduce these concepts to our students, it is important that we begin as visually as possible, so that students understand what they are doing before having to do it all in their heads. Hands-on manipulatives are an important part of the introduction process. I encourage you to keep using manipulatives even past the introduction phase.

Base 10 blocks are a great way to make this strategy hands-on for your students. Students can physically give blocks to the other number.

For example, to solve 26+8, have your students make each number with base 10 blocks.

Then we can give 2 blocks from the 26 to the 8 to make a 10.

Now we can add 24+10 to make 34.

NEXT STEPS:

• If you would like full support for teaching addition strategies in your classroom, check out The Addition Station HERE.
• Read other posts on this website about addition strategies HERE.
• Download a FREE activity for practicing the plus 7, 8, and 9 strategy HERE.

• Find task cards to reinforce the plus 7, 8, 9 strategy in isolation here:
  • Plus 9 task cards for first grade
  • Plus 8 task cards for first grade
  • Plus 9 task cards for second grade
  • Plus 8 task cards for second grade
  • Plus 7,8,9 task cards for third grade
  • Plus 7,8,9 task cards for fourth grade

The post Plus 7, 8, and 9: An Addition Strategy appeared first on Shelley Gray.

The doubles facts are generally an introductory set of facts that we want our students to become automatic with. We can relate the doubles to so many things around us –  fingers and toes: 5+5, wheels on a car : 2+2, or the eggs in a carton: 6+6.

Our goal for the doubles facts is automaticity. This means that students no longer have to think much about the equation in order to solve it. Rather, they just “know” the answer and are able to say the answer within 1-3 seconds. For example, when a student sees the equation 8+8, he should know that it equals 16 without even stopping to think about it.

Building a strong foundation of doubles will help students with other mental math strategies, particularly the near doubles.

Near doubles involve facts like 4+5. To solve this fact, our students can think, “I know that 4+4=8, and 1 more is 9.”

The goal with the near doubles facts is to build relationships and form connections between facts. We can achieve this by using manipulatives regularly.

Here’s a video that will explain this in more detail:

Teaching the doubles and near doubles facts is important, but it shouldn’t stop simply with the numbers to 12. We need to extend these facts into tens and hundreds as well, and teach our students how we can still use the doubles and near doubles facts in order to solve equations with these bigger numbers.

For example we can use the fact 3+3 to solve 30+30 or the fact 6+6 to solve 60+60=___.

FOCUS ON GROUPS OF 10

To begin teaching students to extend the doubles and near doubles facts, focus on groups of 10. For example, we can think of 40+40 as 4 groups of 10 plus 4 groups of 10. Similarly, to solve 400+400 we can think, “4 groups of 100 plus 4 groups of 100.”

EXTENDING THIS CONCEPT TO OTHER MATH STRATEGIES

This “extending” concept can be used in many other circumstances. For example, when teaching your students the plus 1 facts, teach them to extend that knowledge past simple 1-digit numbers. For example, if we know 8+1, then we can easily figure out 80+10 or 800+100.

NEXT STEPS:

• If you would like full support for teaching addition strategies in your classroom, check out The Addition Station HERE.
• Get full support with the Near Doubles strategy with this complete unit.

• Download a FREE activity sheet for practicing the extending the doubles facts strategy HERE.

• Find task cards to reinforce the extending the doubles strategy here:
  • Doubles and extensions task cards for fourth grade
  • Doubles and extensions task cards for third grade

• Find task cards to reinforce the doubles addition facts here:

The post Extending The Doubles and Near Doubles Facts: An Addition Strategy appeared first on Shelley Gray.

  Counting On is a beginning mental math addition strategy. It is generally taught as an introductory mental math strategy and is usually simple for students to grasp. Many of your students are probably already using this strategy without knowing it. Counting on means that you start with the biggest number and then count up from there. For example, to add 5+3, start with the “5” and then count up, “6, 7, 8.” This is to discourage students from counting like this: “1, 2, 3, 4, 5…..6, 7, 8.” If you are working with very young students, they may need to count both sets at first, but work towards starting from the bigger number. It is also important to reinforce the commutative property of addition when working with this strategy. For example, even if students are adding “2+6,” they still should start with the bigger number. In this case we would start with “6” and count up “7, 8.” The counting on strategy should only be used for adding 1, 2, 3, or 4 to a larger number. If students try to count on with numbers higher than 4, it gets too confusing, and mistakes happen. For example, if a student tried to count on to add 15+12, he would say, “15,” and then count on: “16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27.” This is an ineffective way to add. Students will realize this once other, more efficient strategies, are discovered. Once students learn more advanced addition strategies, counting on will slowly be phased out of your students’ “addition toolbox.” But it IS an effective beginning addition strategy for young students. Here’s a video that will explain the counting on strategy in more detail: WAYS TO REINFORCE COUNTING ON Teaching math in a way that reinforces concrete, representational, and abstract thinking will pay off as your students discover new, efficient strategies. If we want our students to think flexibly and strategically, we MUST provide them with the opportunity to SEE math. Please give your students ample time to work with manipulatives such as base 10 blocks, rekenreks, and ten frames (preferably all three). Experience with these manipulatives will give your students a visual – and as they work with counting on activities, they will be able to visualize the math in their heads. Too often we skip right to the paper and pencil work when it comes to math strategies. Time to work with concrete materials is essential to your students math fluency. When you are ready for paper and pencil tasks, here are some ideas for how you can reinforce the counting on strategy in your classroom. I have also included a free download to practice this concept at the end of this post. DICE OR DOT PATTERNS When first beginning to teach counting on, dot patterns can be an effective tool. Encourage your students to say the big number and then count on from there using the dots. For example, for the first example shown below, your students should say, “19,” and then count on: “20, 21.”   TEN FRAMES To use a 10 frame, students can represent the equation with two different symbols or colors.   NUMBER LINES Number lines are a fantastic tool for so many math concepts, so getting students started using them for beginning addition is a great idea. Encourage students to write the highest number and then use “jumps” to count on the smaller number. For the equation shown below (27+2), students would first write the 27 and then make two jumps to make a sum of 29.       NEXT STEPS:

• Find a Counting On Addition Strategy Unit here:

• If you would like full support for teaching addition strategies in your classroom, check out The Addition Station HERE.
• Download a FREE activity sheet for practicing the counting on strategy HERE.

• Find task cards to reinforce the counting on strategy in isolation here:
  • counting on task cards for 1st grade
  • counting on task cards for 2nd grade

 

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The post Teaching the Counting On Addition Strategy? Don’t Forget to Do This. appeared first on Shelley Gray.

First, every student needs to feel successful. This is not optional. When you have students who feel successful, you have students who are excited and willing to learn.

Second, you, as a teacher, have the power to make this happen.

The challenge that most teachers encounter is the HOW. How can you ensure that every student feels successful when you have so many ability levels within one classroom?

I would love to show you how you can foster this feeling of success as you teach addition strategies in your classroom. Interested? Read on!

The POWER of Providing Power to Your Students

During my very first year as a teacher, I had to figure out how I was going to teach multiplication to a group of 3rd and 4th graders. I had to figure out how I would support the ones who were just beginning to learn multiplication, while also challenging those that already had background knowledge of multiplication. I developed a system that, at the time, I called, “The Multiplication Box.” It was self-paced and student-centered. Students moved through at their own pace to ensure that they were always working to their full potential. The best part? They LOVED it. They literally begged me to do Multiplication Box all the time. It was amazing!

Why were they so engaged? Why did they beg me to do this activity that was really not much different than many other things I had done in the past? It was because of the way that they were able to move through the activities. The students were given a sense of POWER. They had power over how fast they moved through the levels. They had power over their own assessment. They had power that led to a greater sense of metacognition.

I believe that giving your students POWER over their work is one of the most “powerful” things that you can do as a teacher.

How does this relate to Addition Strategies?

I have taken this exact same approach that I used with multiplication in my very first year of teaching, and made it work for addition. Let me show you how!

First of all, let’s talk about some big goals as you teach addition. You want your students to succeed in a couple of different ways when it comes to addition. First, you want your students to develop automaticity. This means that they just “know” some of the facts. Your students shouldn’t have to think too hard to solve an equation like 5+5. They should just KNOW the answer. That’s called automaticity.

The second big goal is strategy. Your students need to know how to figure out an equation in their heads. They need to possess a REAL UNDERSTANDING of the numbers so that they can perform mental computation efficiently and effectively.

I’m going to show you how you can encourage automaticity and strategy for every single student in your classroom, regardless of ability level.

This is the Addition Station.

It looks pretty plain, right? Basically, it’s a box filled with file folders. But in reality, this is a system that can transform how your students feel about addition.

Here is how The Addition Station works. It is really quite simple.

1. All of your students begin on Level 1. This is the first strategy. They go to the Addition Station and get the first activity from the first file folder. They go back to their seats, and work on the activity.

2. When a student is finished the activity, he goes back to The Addition Station and gets the laminated answer key from the same folder. He goes back to his seat, self-checks, and then places the answer key back in the folder.

3. The student then finds his personal assessment tracker and shades in a box to show which activity he has completed.

4. He then goes back to The Addition Station and gets the next activity in the folder, and completes the work/assessment process again. This gets repeated until the student has worked through the entire level.

5. When a student is finished all of the activities in a level, he asks himself if he is ready for a test. If he doesn’t feel ready, he independently practices the strategy that he learned in that level. If he feels ready, he approaches the teacher.

6. The “test” is hardly a test. It is a very quick, simple oral assessment, where the teacher runs through a few of the facts from that level (using the quick reference cards shown below), and does an observational assessment of whether or not the student has mastered that strategy. It is very important to do an oral test rather than a paper/pencil assessment, as the data that you gather far exceeds the data that you can gather from a traditional paper and pencil assessment. Although this sounds time consuming, it takes only a minute or two.

If the teacher feels that the student has mastered that strategy, she gives him a badge for his badge book, and he is free to move to the next level.

7. This process is then repeated for each subsequent level.

By the time that students complete all levels in The Addition Station, they will have learned a wide variety of addition strategies that will prove to be extremely useful all the way through their school career.

Although this system is simple, it is highly engaging for a few reasons:

• Students have power. They choose the pace at which they work and how fast they progress through the levels. They are truly in charge of their own learning.
• Students have freedom. They get to assess themselves! They get to get up and down to get new activities. The Addition Station provides a sense of freedom that truly motivates students.
• It’s fun. Work is FUN when you are in charge. It’s FUN to drive your own learning.These three reasons result in highly motivated students who love to learn…who will actually WANT to work on addition facts. And that is a pretty amazing thing!If you would like to implement The Addition Station in your classroom, here is what you will receive:- strategic, progressive, addition activities for each set of facts; each strategy is first isolated and then integrated with previous strategies to result in maximum understanding and mastery
  – easy-to-understand instruction for each addition strategy
  – answer keys
  – an accompanying video to help you prepare and understand your Addition Station (I want to support you the best I can!)
  – clear set-up instructions
  – parent resources and home practice charts
  – classroom posters
  – student and teacher assessment trackers
  – Addition Passports

The charts below shows the exact addition strategies that are included in each grade level of The Addition Station:

See even more information about all self-paced math stations and how they work HERE.

The post MASTERING ADDITION STRATEGIES {The Addition Station} appeared first on Shelley Gray.

STUDENT #1

This student is knows that 16+4=20 because she has practiced this fact over and over and over again. 

When the teacher asks her to solve 16+5, she’s stumped. This is a fact she hasn’t learned yet.

After moving on to other math units and focusing less on addition, the fact 16+4 is forgotten and will have to be re-learned next year.

STUDENT #2

This next student hasn’t learned the fact 16+4 yet, but can easily figure it out because he knows that 6+4 is ten and then 10 more is 20.

When the teacher asks him to solve 16+5, he is easily able to visualize it because of all the work their class has done with ten frames. He already knows that 16+4=20, so 16+5 is just one more!

Then he thinks of one other way he could have solved it! He imagines the 16 as a 10 and a 6. He adds the 6 to the 5, which is a doubles plus one fact (11) and then adds on the remaining 10 to make 21.

Opponents of mental math will say this is too confusing, but I’ve simply written it all out so that you can see the steps that happen in a person’s head very quickly. This does not need to be written out like this every time.

Near Doubles

This strategy is a natural progression from the doubles. It includes using a known fact and building on it. For example, to solve 6+7, a student could think, “I know that 6+6 makes 12, and one more makes 13.” This strategy is best modelled with ten frames, which makes it easy to see! Students need to SEE math so they can build their understanding!

 

Here’s a video that explains the near doubles strategy in more depth or find a unit for teaching the near doubles facts HERE.

 

 

Make a Ten

Make a Ten is a mental math strategy where students use the number combinations that make ten to form connections and relationships to other facts. First, students must learn the number combinations that make 10. Then they can confidently use those combinations. For example, to solve 8+5, a student might think, “I can take two from the 5 and give it to the 8 to make a ten, and then add the leftover 3 to make 13.” Ten frames are a fantastic way to illustrate this strategy.

 

Here’s a video that explains the make a ten strategy in more depth.

 

Find a unit for teaching make a ten HERE or find the math mats shown below HERE.

 

 

Making Multiples of Ten

This strategy is a natural follow-up to making ten. To make , we can use the number combinations that make ten (6+4, 7+3, etc.). This helps us recognize that expressions such as 26+4 will make a multiple of ten. Ten frames are an excellent way to model the thinking process. For example, when we model 26+4 with a ten frame, it’s easy to see that we can shift the 4 dots over to completely fill three ten frames and make 30.

 

Find a unit for teaching the making multiples of ten strategy HERE.

Left to Right Addition

Left-to-right addition is a powerful mental math strategy for adding numbers with two or more digits. Place value understanding is key, as students will be grouping the tens and then the ones. For example, to solve 24+53, we will first add 20+50 to make 70, then 4+3 to make 7, and finally 70+7 to make 77. Left-to-right addition is important to teach BEFORE students learn the traditional algorithm. This is because left-to-right addition focuses on conceptual understanding rather than on the memorization of a series of steps.

 

Here’s a video that explains left to right addition in more depth.

 

Find a unit for teaching left to right addition HERE.

 

 

 

 

Break Apart/Decomposing

Breaking apart an addend by place value is a powerful mental math strategy for adding numbers with two or more digits. Although this is similar to left-to-right addition, some students prefer it because only one addend is decomposed by place value, rather than both of them. For example, to solve 43+35, we could first decompose the 35 into 30 and 5. We start by adding 43+30 to make 73, then the remaining 5 to make 78.

 

Here’s a video that explains the break apart strategy in more depth.

Find a unit for teaching break apart HERE.

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The post Effective Mental Math Addition Strategies to Master the Addition Facts appeared first on Shelley Gray.