Don’t know about you but our Kindergartners and even some 1st graders have trouble identifying and forming teen numbers. I think this is partly because most of those numbers have “unhelpful” names like eleven and twelve and the others are said “backwards” from the way they are written…like seventeen 17 and nineteen 19. And whose idea was it to come up with thirteen and fifteen as names? I often would say “three-teen” and “five-teen” when we would count just to clarify those numbers for the students who might be a little confused! You often will hear the teen numbers described as TRICKY TEENS!! No kidding!

Teen Frame Math

We LOVE to use themes in our classrooms and PIRATES were always a hit with both our boys and our girls. Here is a peek into all the resources that come with this PIRATE Themed TEEN PACKET! First there are Number Building Mats Students turn over two of the provided cards and determine what number from 1-20 was formed, Then they place the correct number card on the mat in the small box. This activity works well with a small group of students in a Math center.

Another version has the ten-frame card already showing on the mat. Students turn over a single digit ten-frame number to determine what complete number was formed. This version helps emphasize the numerical value of the numbers….they are 10 PLUS a single digit.

Math Games- BUMP and BINGO

What better way to practice a new skill than with a game! The popular BUMP game is so much fun. In our version, a student turns over a card and place it next to the TEN FRAME already printed on the mat. They turn over a smaller single digit card and identify the number they formed. They place their “cover-Up” (we use Unifix cubes) on that number. The other player continues in the same way. Play continues back and forth. Now the fun really begins! When a player forms a number with a cover-up already on it If the number formed has the opponent’s cube on it this player gets to “BUMP” it off and places their cube in its place. If it has their own colored cube then they place a second cube on top and now that number is “frozen” and can”t be bumped off! The bumping and freezing continues until one player has placed all 10 of their cubes. WINNER! Students LOVE this game!

Nine BIngo boards are provided and is played the traditional way. A caller selects one or the provided cards, shows it to the players, and they cover up that teen number on their board. All 9 cards have the same 9 numbers but in different positions on their boards. The same TEN FRAMES cards from the “building mats seen above are used to determine the “called out” number. Small Pirate cover-ups are provided.

Pirate Practice Worksheets

This packet is LOADED with practice worksheets. A variety of formats allow students to hone their skills with identifying and forming teen numbers in many different ways. When your students have completed these they will know those tricky teen numbers!

Need a FREEBIE?

Check out this FREE sampler packet to see some examples of the activities in the FULL product.

Click FREE PIRATE TEN FRAMES to download.

Did you know that “National Talk Like a Pirate Day” is September 19th? Click the title to read all about it and its origins. Soooo much fun! Want to do a whole week…or month with a Pirate theme? We have songs, beginning readers, literacy activities, and other math resources all using a Pirate theme. Click PIRATE PRODUCTS to view them all.

The post Pirate Teen Math Fun appeared first on JK Curriculum Connection.

Time to BUMP!

Kids LOVE to Bump! Have you discovered the fun and versatility of playing Math BUMP games? They are easy to learn and can be customized to practice addition, subtraction, multipliction and division! They make a perfect addition to any Math Center or use them on a fun FAMILY Math Game Night! Bump Games can even be sent home for some non-tradtional math Homework! Bump games are great for getting your students to apply their math skills while playing a fun game! They won’t even know they are practicing math facts while “bumping” each other off the numbers!!

How do You Play BUMP?

First decide what skill you want to have students practice. You need a Game Mat and 2 different colored sets of 10 Unifix cubes. Below is our Teen Number BUMP. Instead of rolling a die to determine their choice of number, students turn over a 10-frame card and form a “teen” number. The 1^st player turns over a card and, for example, makes the number 19 and puts a Unifix cube on that number.  Play goes back and forth with layers turning over cards and building teen numbers. When a number formed has an opponent’s Unifix cube on it, the player can “bump” them off and put their cube there! If a player builds a number that has one of their own Unifix cubes on it, that player adds a second cube to the top and “locks” that numbered space.  Now they can NOT be bumped off that space! If a player builds a number that no longer has an open space, their turn is over.  Play continues until a player uses all their Unifix cubes.

Check out the following pictorial that illustrates how to play BUMP!

These games are part of a larger product called SPRING 10-Frames. It is loaded with math TEEN building mats, worksheets and these BUMP games. Find it here by clicking SPRING Ten-FRAMES.

Here’s BUMP Freebie just for you

We created a FREE set of 3 BUMP Spring-themed BUMP games for you to try out. Click INSECT BUMP to find them at our TPT store. We have lots of other themed 10-FRAME activities. Check out our MATH category to see what we have to offer!

The post Spring BUMP Math Games appeared first on JK Curriculum Connection.

What is the best way to get students to understand number sense AND begin to do simple addition and subtraction problems?  Most math series that school districts contract with come with lots and lots of manipulatives! Unifix cubes,  counting bears, double-sided counters, place value blocks, geo shapes and so on until our shelves overflow with them!

 We are BIG advocates for using manipulatives with young children as these tools help develop a deep understanding of number and value and the concepts of More & Less and so much more. Even putting cubes on large charts of numbers help reinforce the value of each of the numbers (as seen here).

Once students have had an extensive amount of experience with cubes or small blocks to represent numbers up to 20 they are ready to start moving away from them.  They can start calculating with written numbers.  Since they haven’t memorized the addition and subtraction facts to 10 or beyond they often start to rely on using their fingers….those easy ‘manipulatives’ conveniently attached to their body! Unfortunately we only come equipped with 10 fingers so the problems they can solve are limited too. 

The solution is to move those cubes or small blocks ONTO the numbers and call them Tap ‘n’ Count places. There are specific spots on the numbers that correspond to each number’s value.  1 has one tapping spot, 2 has two, 3 gets three taps etc.  

How Do the Tapping Places work?

 By learning specific places to tap on each numeral, students can easily count UP (when adding) and count DOWN (when subtracting).  Each DOT on numbers 1-5 gets tapped once and each * on numbers 6-9 gets tapped 2 times.  Display the Colored Chart in the classroom or place it under a document camera. Print out the Black and white version and have students touch and count on their own copy to learn the proper way to tap ‘n count.

Practice “tapping ‘n counting” on each numeral over several days to familiarize the students with the “tap ‘n’ count” places. (Hints for remembering: 5 has a ‘belly button’ and 7 gets a ‘kiss on the nose’ to get that 7th spot counted!)  You must consistently tap in the same manner each time and soon the tapping places will become automatic.  Very quickly students will internalize these ‘places’ and be able to accurately complete math problems without using any dots in the numerals. That is the goal!

These  “Tap ‘n Count” spots serve as a scaffold for students when practicing early Addition and Subtraction skills. Tapping and counting accurately on the numbers in an equation will result in a correct answer every time.

Teaching the “Counting On” Strategy for Faster Addition

Once students have had lots of practice counting up with the tapping places on both numbers in the equation it is time to teach the “Counting On” strategy. Teach students to identify the larger of the two numbers in the problem, put that number in the head, and then “count on” the tapping places on the remaining number. Example: If the equation is 9 plus 4, students will say, “9”, then count on 4 more places saying, ” 10, 11, 12, 13. 13 is the sum!” This is the step that makes calculating a lot faster. Remind the students that the bigger number may be in any place in the equation. These tapping places work really well when calculating columns of numbers. Simply touch on the numbers in the correct tapplng places and count them up! Even Kindergartners are able to do column addition with several numbers! Talk with the students about identifying the larger addend in each problem, saying it, then “counting on” the other addend using the Tap ‘n Count places. Example: 7 + 3  say, “7, then touch the dots on the 3 and count up and say, “8, 9, 10”. This is the strategy called “Counting On” often taught in math textbooks. It is important students understand that the larger addend is not always on the top. Talk about the commutative property of addition (This property means that addends can be added in any order and the sum is always the same.) This is a precursor to algebra and young students can easily understand this property if it is shown using manipulatives a few times. Note: If both addends are the same, instruct the students to say either of the addends and “count on” while tapping on the second addend,  Ex 4+ 4  Say “4” and count on “5, 6, 7, 8”. 

Subtracting using Tap ‘n Count Places

Learning to count down (like NASA’s countdown to lift off!) is the way to teach students how to use the same tap ‘n count places to do Subtraction. When working on a subtraction problem the student says the top number and counts backwards on the tapping places on the other number. Children need practice counting down from any number under twenty. This can be practiced orally at numerous times of the day. Just call out, “Let’s count down from 15!” or “Let’s count down from 12!” Students are great at counting down from 10 but often get tripped up when counting down in the teen numbers. Stopping at a given number is essential to practice too! If the subtraction problem is “14 – 6” they must say “14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 when tapping on the number 6! Also practice by counting down and stopping by writing the numbers as seen here.

There are no Tapping Places on the top number (the minuend) in a Subtraction problem as that is the number you say and then count down on the tapping places on the bottom number (the subtrahend).

The Final Step

The final step is to provide students practice doing problems with NO Tap ‘n Count scaffolds. Students should have progressed to doing addition problems fluently, having internalized the Tap ‘n Count places and relying on them as needed. They should also have practiced subtraction and counting down. The beauty of the Tap ‘n Count method is there is NO counting on your fingers AND if you can count correctly up or down you will achieve the correct answer every time! This will aid in memorizing addition and subtraction facts more quickly as “6 plus 7” will always equal “13” (and so on!)

Lots of Practice Pages!

We have created several Tap ‘n Count practice worksheets that are available at our TPT store. Click HERE to see them all under the math Activities category. Here is a FREE Sampler product to give you an idea of how the charts and practice sheets work.

We have created Tap ‘n Count packets for MANY themes. Here are just a few of them. Click on any cover to link to them at our TPT store.

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