Regrouping quickly became the bane of my existence once I began teaching 2nd grade many years ago. My students were struggling to understand, and I was struggling with finding the right strategies to articulate the concept. It wasn’t until I sat down and took a real inventory of what wasn’t working that I could completely revamp my strategies for teaching addition with regrouping.
Eventually, I was able to incorporate engaging activities that helped students grasp regrouping. It was a total 360!
While I’ve shared some strategies with you in my addition with regrouping tips and tricks post, I wanted to dive deeper into three more of my favorite strategies/tools that help build those foundational skills to ensure success throughout the year.
Base ten blocks are a fantastic hands-on tool for teaching addition with regrouping. This is probably the most familiar tool for teachers. They work wonders because they give students a very real visual of the problems they have to solve, making it so easy to see regrouping in action.
To implement these tools, start by giving students the blocks they need to represent the numbers of an addition equation. I like to ensure each student has about 12 tens and 20 ones to begin so there is plenty to manipulate as you work through problems. Next, provide a problem for students to build with their blocks.
For example, if you’re adding 47 + 36, students would use four tens blocks and seven ones blocks for 47, and three tens blocks and six ones blocks for 36. Have students group the ones blocks first. When they count ten or more, guide them to “regroup” or exchange ten ones for one tens block. Move the ten to its home in the tens place. Then, add the tens blocks together.
This concrete visual helps students see exactly how regrouping works and builds a strong foundation for understanding place value and carrying over in addition problems.
Expert Tip: Keep a set of base ten blocks in a small baggie or container for each student. This will allow you to quickly pass out materials to each student before practicing addition with regrouping.
Bonus Tip: Go VERY slow introducing addition with regrouping. Model, model, model. Rushing through these steps will cost you precious time later on!
Place value discs are another excellent tool for teaching addition with regrouping because they reinforce the concept of place value. Each disc represents a specific value (ones, tens, hundreds, etc.), so students can clearly see how numbers are added within each place value.
To implement, have students lay out discs to represent each number in their problem, just like they would with base ten blocks.
For example, in the problem 58 + 27, students place five tens discs and eight ones discs for 58, and two tens discs and seven ones discs for 27. They add the ones discs first. If they get more than nine ones, they regroup by exchanging ten ones discs for one tens disc.
Students then proceed to add the tens discs, making regrouping visible and logical. Seeing the actual numbers on the face of the discs provides a level of comfort, too.
Expert Tip: While using place value discs is an effective hands-on tool to help complete addition with regrouping, they are more abstract than actual base ten blocks. I only introduce place value discs IF students have a decent understanding of the value of numbers.
The sticky note method is an additional strategy to visually demonstrate regrouping in addition. I love using sticky notes for various lessons throughout the year because of their ease of use.
In regrouping, sticky notes provide an easy way for students to fully practice the concept of carrying over by physically manipulating the double-digit number they get from adding the ones place. Let’s take a look.
Start by having students add the numbers in the ones place just like they normally would.
For example, in the problem 37 + 25, students first add the ones digits: 7 + 5 equals 12. Instead of just writing down the 2, have students write the full 12 on a sticky note. Label the left side of the sticky note as “tens” and the right side as “ones.” Next, have students cut the sticky note in half vertically, separating the tens and ones. The “ones” half (2) goes under the ones column, while the “tens” half (1) gets placed on top of the tens column.
This visually shows students that they are carrying over the “1” from the ones place. Finally, add up the tens column, including the extra “1” from the regrouping.
This hands-on strategy helps students see the regrouping process clearly and makes the transition between place values much more tangible.
Expert Tip: Once students start regrouping without using base ten blocks or manipulatives, they often rush through the steps and forget to add the ten that they regrouped. Using a strategy like the sticky note method will help students slow down and think through each and every step.
Learning 2 digit and 3 digit regrouping is hard, don’t make it harder with worksheets! Instead, students can learn and have fun by playing games, getting up and moving, and completing regrouping activities that engage each and every single learner. Worksheet free!
Our 3-digit addition week even has a superhero theme …
Hey, y’all! My name is Amy Lemons and I am passionate about providing students with both engaging and effective standards-based Math and ELA lessons.
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