It’s the beginning of third grade and you’re working on addition and subtraction word problems. Everything seems to be going well, and you feel confident moving on to multiplication and division.
The problem?
Your students are given an addition and subtraction problem to solve during their morning work and several students get the incorrect answer. Why? Did they make a careless mistake?
You may find yourself saying: “You don’t have any hundreds, so you have to regroup.” or “You forgot to carry the one.” Yet, those same students keep making mistakes throughout the year. This is because they don’t have a strong understanding of place value.
We must make the time to slow down and help students build on their place value understanding.
In the primary grades, students learned that 10 ones can be viewed as a ten and 10 tens can be viewed as a hundred. Now they need to take this understanding and connect it to addition and subtraction. Place value blocks or place value disks are wonderful tools to help students make those connections. Below are some examples.
EXAMPLE 1: 157 + 46
- Step 1: Use place value disks to model 157 and 46.
- Step 2: ‘Combine’ the 10 ones and create 1 ten.
- Step 3: ‘Combine’ the 10 tens and create 1 hundred.
- Step 4: Write down the sum.
EXAMPLE 2: 417 – 233
- Step 1: Use place value disks to model 417.
- Step 2: Take away 3 ones.
- Step 3: Break apart 1 hundred into 10 tens.
- Step 4: Take away 3 tens. Take away 2 hundreds. Write the difference.
BASE 10 BLOCKS
If your students aren’t ready for place value disks, then you must download this free resource. Use these large cards to model addition and subtraction.
I’ve also included a copy of the place value sheet pictured below.
DOWNLOAD THE FREE RESOURCES
- Simply fill out the form below to receive the free printables. After you confirm your subscription, the resources listed in this blog post will be sent to your inbox!
- Already a subscriber? Visit the resource library!
SHOP ADDITION & SUBTRACTION RESOURCES
Add to Cart |
Add to Cart |
Add to Cart |
Add to Cart |
Celia Alatorre
I love all the math materials. I can’t wait to use them with my students and grandkids.