Mental Addition and Subtraction Strategies

Huge "WELCOME BACK" to my 2nd and 3rd grade Math teachers!

This one is just for you!

Just wanted to share some mental strategies our TEKS specify that students should be able to use to assist with solving addition and subtraction of 2 digit numbers (2nd grade) and 3 digit numbers (3rd grade).

It might be advantageous to brief yourself on "Number Talks" to help students be more flexible and fluent with these strategies.

You can find "Number Talks" on YouTube or purchase the book which has a video CD at the back with various examples. I would suggest utilizing them every morning before class for about 10 minutes to build fluency and flexibility with number (sense) among your students!

The following videos help build on this number sense and should be used when teaching grade 2 +/- (2.4B & 2.4C) or grade 3 +/- (3.4A & 3.5A).

COMPENSATION (strategy)

PLACE VALUE (strategy)

MAKING A TEN (strategy)

Enjoy! And leave comments or hit me up on Twitter (@Lady_JAG) or Facebook (Kim O'Neal)! 

Digital Story Mats

I sat in on a phenomenal training the other day by way of serving as the session "helper". My assignment was to help the presenter with any technology issues and ensure that attendees signed in and get their class credit.

As I was listening to this presenter show other teachers how to implement "Movie Talks" in their world languages classes, I got an idea, I wanted to share with you.

So in Kindergarten, we know students are expected to compose story problems or word stories as they practice the concept of joining and separating.Finding STORY MATS is as easy as googling and printing. But if you have a great curriculum resource, you might find a few there as well.

In the video, below, I reference Kathy Richardson's "Developing Number Concepts" book and she has lots of Blackline masters for Story Mats in the back.

My desire is to see teachers using technology in their classes (and by that I mean "students using technology") and introduce story mats to our students!

ENJOY!!!