Have you ever whipped out an activity for Plus and Minus 1, 10, 100, or 1,000 and just felt bummed out because your students aren’t understanding it? It seems like it would be such a simple task! Well, I have some teaching tips for you that will hopefully help your students become more successful.
Getting concrete with base ten blocks, linking cubes, place value disks, etc really enhances the understanding of this skill. Have students use a math manipulative to create the starting number. For an added bonus, locate that number on a hundreds chart if you are working with 2-digit numbers. If you are doing numbers up to 1,000 you can even use THESE charts.
Next have students physically add the block, cube, disk, etc to their starting number. This allows them to actually SEE and FEEL what they are doing. Then they can count up their new number.
If you are going to do another operation such as Minus 10 or Add 100, always go back to the original number. So many times students will continue to work from where they are which causes confusion later on. After every operation, always go back to the starting number.
Now that you are back at your original number, you can complete the next operation. Teaching students how to take away a ten, one, etc will help them to understand WHAT they are doing rather than just always going “down a number.”
Once students are ready to complete activities and tasks, using a highlighter can really come in handy. Have students highlight the digit that is in the place value they are working with. So, if they are adding 100 to a number, they will highlight the hundreds place. This serves as a visual reminder.
Constantly just adding and taking away 1, 10, 100, or 1000 can get boring real fast! There are so many ways to make it interactive and engaging for the students.
For this game, students flip over a number card. This is their starting number. Next, students smash down a ball of play-dough based on the operation of their choice. Once that operation is smashed down, they can’t repeat it until they have completed all tasks. Then, students complete the equation on their recording sheet. This seems so simple, but students just really enjoy smashing down play-dough, so they become super engaged!
For this game, students play with a partner. Students start at the number 100. Students spin to see how many spots they can move. Where they land will determine if they are adding or subtracting 10/100
The first student to 1,000 is the winner!
I hope that you enjoy those tips and tricks with your students! The activities in this post can be found in the following packs:
First Grade Magic of Math Unit 5
Second Grade Magic of Math Unit 10
For a FREE activity with this skill, click HERE!
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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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