From the 1/2 Classrooms

Throughout Term 2 our Grade 1/2 students have been demonstrating their mathematical skills!  With a focus on addition, they have explored different strategies they can use when solving addition problems:

Skip Counting

Students continued their investigation into number sequences from Term 1, initially exploring those sequences increasing and decreasing by twos, threes, fives and ten from any starting point, then moving to other sequences.  This helped students when adding larger numbers.

Friends of 10

What are friends of 10? Friends of ten are pairs of numbers that, when added together, make the number 10. Learning about the friends of 10 is a good way to help our Grade 1/2s understand the relationship between different numbers. 

Students enjoyed several rounds of Addition Golf, challenging their friends to have the lowest score!  You might like to watch the instructional video below and use our handy scoring sheet to give it a go at home!

Number lines and counting on from the biggest number 

We used number lines and dominoes to explore how we can visually add two numbers together. Students rolled the dice and discovered that it was easier to start with the larger of the two numbers and to count on to find the answer to the addition problem. 

Doubles

The doubles facts are addition facts in which a number is added to itself. 1 + 1 and 2 + 2 are both doubles facts. Our students discovered that it was important to know these facts, as it made it easier for them when solving addition problems with near doubles (doubles + 1 such as 7 + 8 and doubles + 2 such as 6 + 8). Students really enjoyed playing the Doubles Bingo game to test their addition skills, as well as making lady bugs to show their understanding.

Split strategy

The split strategy is a method where numbers are 'split' into their place value, making it easier to add them. For example. numbers are split into hundreds, tens and ones. This can sometimes be known as partitioning. As an example, 146 becomes one hundreds, four tens (40) and six ones (6). Students can add two numbers together by adding the hundreds in each number, the tens in each number and then the ones.  

For example 123 + 146 = 

100+20+3 + 100+40+6

100+100= 200

20+40=60

3+6=9

200+60+9= 269

These strategies will also support our work on subtraction in the coming weeks!

Counting every day

You can incorporate counting into everyday activities such as:

• Cut fruit into pieces and ask your child to count the pieces.
• Add the total number of cutlery items at the table.
• Count the number of people travelling in the car or on the bus.
• Count the number of houses as you walk along the street.
• Count how many steps it takes to walk from the kitchen to the bathroom.
• Practice counting when grocery shopping with your child (for example, counting the number of apples you put into the bag).
• Encourage your child to talk about the number of things in the pictures they draw.

Hunting for numbers

Number hunts are a fun and engaging activity! Ask your child to find numbers around you. Look at and say the numbers on car number plates, signs, calendars, newspapers, shopping catalogues, speed signs, and houses. You might like to look for doubles in your travels!

Playing games

Making maths fun and interactive by playing games will help engage your child. Here are some ideas:

• Board games are a fun way to involve the whole family with maths. Help your child when rolling dice to count, move, and stop after moving the number shown on the dice, ie. 'Snakes and Ladders
• When using dice your child may count all the dots on the die face to determine the total number. Over time they will begin to recognise automatically the value on the die face without counting.
• Play number games online with your child. Here is a short list of good websites to help begin your online search for resources:
  - FUSE (select Early Childhood or Primary Students tabs)
  - Count Us In - ABC Education
  - ABC Education
  - ictgames

Playing Cards

Playing with cards is always a fun activity, particularly on a rainy day or on holidays. You can:

• Play matching number games like ‘Snap’ with playing cards.
• Order the numbers on the cards from smallest to largest, or largest to smallest.

More ideas...

For more ideas about how you can support your child's mathematical understanding, visit Victorian Government website https://www.vic.gov.au/how-build-your-childs-numeracy-skills-birth-grade-2

From the 1/2 Team.