This is my first time to ever be a
guest blogger and I am so excited and honored!
I should probably start by introducing myself. I am Dana from Fun in 1st
Grade. I have been blogging since late
April and have been teaching for 10 years.
I have taught Pre-K, K, 1st, and 2nd. I love blogging and will admit, at times, it
takes over my life…
Leah asked me about a week ago to
be a guest and I have been racking my brain ever since. I decided I would ramble talk about
math. Love it or hate it, we have to
teach it and our kids have to know it.
Math is a focus at my school this year, so it has been on my mind a lot. My state is switching over to Common Core Standards
for math and language in K-2 this year and 3-5 next, so we have received a lot
of math training.
There are many ways to teach
students to add and subtract. We are
currently using EnVision Math by Pearson .
This series, like most others, teaches every way imaginable to add- make
a ten, use doubles and doubles plus one, count on, use a number line, and
related facts. With subtraction, they
learn to use a number line, related facts, and count backwards. While I teach all of these methods, I REALLY
like to teach my students TouchMath. If you are not familiar with TouchMath, here
it is in a nutshell- each number has specific dots on it and the students learn
where they are and count up or down, depending on addition or subtraction.
We do our TouchMath a little
differently than the company that sells the program. We call it Touch Points and have changed the
location of the dots on the 9 and how we draw a few of the dots. The method is still the same, though.
Here are their
numbers-
The dots are easier
to draw on tiny little worksheet numbers than a dot with a circle around
it. We just practice over and over where
the dots are and how many times you touch it. For an addition problem, I teach them to say
the big number then touch the points on the smaller number wile counting
up. It is the reverse for
subtraction.
Click {HERE} for the parent letter we send home, explaining this concept.
Click {HERE}
for the numbers with Touch points.
What are your
thoughts on teaching children to add or subtract? What works for you?
Thanks to Leah for
this opportunity and I hope you’ll stop by my blog soon! I am having a 500 follower giveaway that you
don’t want to miss!
See you all tomorrow for another Guest Blogger! Happy Blogging!
