Basic Addition Lessons Up To Ten

Magic Math Bag

The Magic Math Bag has many magical uses. Eventually it creates students with x-ray vision! The super duper magical math bag has many other uses though.

Start off with your average large paper sack, decorate the bag. This can be an art project. Use markers, paint (non toxic), glue on color paper cut outs, macaroni, beans, glitter, glittered macaroni...whatever make the math bag fun and cool. Let the child be creative. It could take several sittings to finish the math bag as you wait for components like paint and glue to dry.

The most common way I use the Math bag is as a blind. Put the sack over the child after completing exercises where they build numbers. Then ask questions: “I'm building a ten and I have a 7 what do I need?” and “I have a four and I want to build a seven what do I need?” Etc. Do this only after they are confident and have built the numbers over several sessions.

You can also use the bag in creative ways for fun with young children. Most basic is doing magic! Put one each of the blocks (one through ten) in the bag...reach in and grab a block, feel what it is and without looking say “I have a seven” or whatever...make sure if you say seven you have a seven. You can feel it, but you may need a little practice. I just run my fingernail over the top and count the clicks if need be. Little kids (6 and under) are always amazed at first...but then you let them try and with practice they will learn to feel a block too. Blind kids like this game because they can play on a level playing field...All this game does is get them familiar with the blocks. It's used in the beginning and then discarded for more challenging games once the students have mastered identifying blocks by feel.

Next you can modify the game by making students feel for a specific number...without looking. Then you can build a number in two parts. Build a nine. Student reaches in and grabs a block: a four. Next student has to find the number the number added to four that makes nine. Build all the numbers less than ten first...then the numbers more than ten. You may need to put two or three of each block in the bag to start. The emphasis is on tens and then nines. {Hypertext to FAQ page}

When you play more than ten remove the ten from the bag. With eighteen for example if a student pulls anything other than a nine the next student can not build it. So the student has to try again WITHOUT YOU TELLING THEM AND WITHOUT SAYING “NO” to pull a block that works.

Same with fifteen for example a seven and eight work but a three makes it impossible to pull one block and you are going for two number combinations. Later after they master these games adding 27 and 6 more will be a snap.

Have fun. Remove the “no” from the lesson. Play one game at a time and baby step your way to more complex games. Play for five or ten minutes MAX then stop. Try to make sure everybody has a turn, but stop after five or ten minutes. You should get a resounding “Awwww!” Because they want to play more. Tell them they will get the chance to play again if they are good and get other exercises done. ALWAYS LEAVE THEM WANTING MORE.

What's Under The Cup.

HUGELY IMPORTANT GAME. Now that you've read that you are going to be worried that since it's hugely important you play it right. Just play it. There are many variations and it's hard to play wrong as I have said repeatedly.

Start small and work your way up. All we are doing is building numbers out of other numbers. A simple version of this game is to put a block under the cup and a block out side of the cup. (The cup can be anything a small box a yogurt container a large mug small pot or pan...whatever.) Tell them your job is to guess what's under the cup. For example you have a three under the cup and a one outside the cup. You tell the student that the total is four; they can see the one: what must be under the cup. This is not as easy as you might think for beginners. So for the first few times don't let them agonize at all pull the cup and show them...always start easy and put them in a situation where they can not fail. This is actually the harder version of the game. Most students will grab the piece you say the two parts are supposed to add up to and and measure with the piece they can see. Encourage this. Soon the game is super easy. As you get bigger and go past ten be sure they measure correctly. We want to encourage “small addition.”

For example say the number is sixteen and you have an eight showing, the student gets out a six and a ten for 16 and puts the eight that was showing next to the ten and has to add two plus six. The other way is fine too, AND you want to encourage taking out of the ten because it will help pattern subtraction later. Always take out of the ten.

After several tries and successes get bigger, because bigger is funner. Make tens. Then make more than tens as you progress over time. Do not try to go from making small numbers to making teens (ten and some more) in one five minute period unless you are working with experienced students with whom you are brushing up.

There is a lot of math going on here. The problem is actually x + 8 = 16, but they never need to hear that.

Only play for a short period and stop while they want to play more. This is often a favorite game so use it as a reward for good work or doing other tasks that are not as favored.

The more advanced version of this game involves just a tiny bit of preparation. You need three little cards: one with an equals sign on it, one with a plus sign and one with a minus sign. You are actually going to physically represent an equation. Spend a moment using a three period lesson to explain that an equals sign means “same as”, the plus sign means squish together and the minus sign means take away. To start we are only going to use the plus and equals sign, but introduce all three just for fun.

This is an equals sign. = It means same as.This is the plus sign. + It means put together.This is the minus sign. - It means take away.

Then ask “what's this?” as you point to one of them. If they give the wrong answer correct them by telling them what it is and then showing them what they said it was.

In other words if you point to the equals sign and say “What's this?” and they say a “plus sign” say this is an equals sign, then show them the plus sign. REMOVE THE “NO” FROM THE LESSON.

Lastly, make them point to each sign. Say: show me the plus sign, etc. until they can point without hesitation to each one, do it rapidly and make a game of it.

Now take a simple equation like 3 + 2 = 5. Put a three block, the plus sign card a cup with a two block under it and the equals sign and a five block.

Pic.

While you set up you can have them close their eyes or put the math bag over their heads...

Let the student do whatever they want to solve the problem. Most will pick up the three and put in on or next to the five to discover the answer. GIVE COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT. High fives etc. If the student is stuck show them the answer and let them try again. Do not let them agonize over the answer. The game should go quickly. You should just have fun. If the student doesn't get it right away show them how to get the answer without saying this is how you do it, just show them silently. Have fun.

Later the cup will be replaced with an "X" in the form of a blue bar and they have to use their imagination to "see" that the "X" can be anything.

When we get to the symbols they understand that the "X" is like the cup and they are just finding out what "X" is.

Scroll Down for an example of a young student problem solving with "X".

Counting while building towers
Take out the same blocks and count while you build a towers. Get out 9 threes for example and make a tower out of them, count as you add each block. 1 three,3. 2 threes, 6...5 threes, 15...etc. For an example of a couple creative three and four towers go here.

Measure Numbers..lay down 3 tens and a two; measure with 4's...etc KIDS LOVE to do this...

Toss across
CAUTION ADVISED. This game can easily get out of control! Blocks flying everywhere, kids whipping blocks at each other pandemonium ensues. If you have discipline issues in your classroom make sure you keep a lid on this game with close super vision.

There are lots of ways to play. Team play or individual play, (that would be two players). Take 9 sevens, one student tosses the block to the other student and the student calls out seven next fourteen twenty one etc...the student catching can't get another one until he says the right number, if a student drops a block or says the wrong number you start again...if you only have one student or two students this game is fun but will never get exciting. If you have two or more teams then it gets more fun as competition heats up. Older kids (who supposedly already know their tables) can play this game as a team builder exercise.

Put tape of the floor a few feet apart within easy tossing distance.

Make two teams. Race. Starting with twos all the way to nines who ever finishes first obviously “wins”, If becomes a game of cooperation, dexterity, speed AND math, not just math. If you have a classroom of twenty; two teams of ten will works GREAT. Five pairs of students can each go through 2 thru 9 once (a long game) or more fun is each team just does 2 thru 9. Students pair off and pick who is going to do which times table or the teacher may assign it if certain students need work on certain tables, however you will find as they play this game all students learn all their times tables...each team judges the other to keep it honest and you don't have to go in order...and you can go up to 12 or 20...or 16 not just 9. If you don't have twenty nines for example, just have another student take some blocks back to the tosser. The catcher may be the only one who can call out the answer or the whole team can call out the answer. You can make rules like you have to catch and hold six (or more) in a row before you can reload the tosser. If a block drops they have to start over. You can also keep track of time and see who the champions are. And this can lead to more math where you plot the times on graphs, find the difference in times between fastest and slowest, week over week as they get better at it and learn their times tables etc. You can also just work on one or two times tables at a time. If you want you can have one student write out the times tables on the board as they are called out but this starts to make it “work” instead of play and we just want to play. Both teams can race each other at the same timeor you can also time it; then where one team watches the other team and then has to beat their time. This is usually done after both teams have pretty much mastered the tables and are just going for time for fun and to see how fast they can go. Use your imagination.

Build Walls

Build Squares. Simply get the blocks out and make squares; count as you go. You'd be surprised at how much math is taught with this simple but important math activity.

One "trick" I use to engage students is to pretend I need help or to do something I know they want to do, but not let them...at first. If you do it the first two or three times then they want to do it too..."it" meaning drawing the blocks for example, keep making mistakes and erasing and the student will usually say “let me help you...”

Or build a tower but keep making fall down before you finish with three;'s for example...pretty soon a student will say: "let me do it!" or "gimme that! I'll show you how..." And you're on your way...

Go home from basic lessons, addition.

Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear shoes, bathe, and not make messes in the house. ~Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love