In this class activity, students find the missing number to complete a number sentence while also seeing different representations made by other students.

In Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh, a hungry snake finds 10 mice on the grass and puts them into a jar. The last mouse cleverly sends the snake on a fruitless hunt for an even bigger mouse and the other mice tip the jar over and escape. In this activity, children investigate the different ways that they ten mice could be arranged when some are in the jar and some are on the grass.

This is a great primary activity from one of our Youcubians, Deb Morton. It encourages class participation and discussion as students explore equality as they move around the room. Deb says, ÒThe students have fun looking at what they did and then realize math is all around us and in our lives everyday. And at the end I have a carpet seating chart complete.Ó

This game is a great way to practice and build fluency with the addends 0 Ð 12. As students develop new strategies they will begin to use subtraction. Encourage students to discuss, write about or illustrate their strategies after they have played. You can also ask students to explain why they are choosing their addend and to justify the sum of their addends during play.