Strategies for understanding and memorizing basic facts:
1. Property of Zero
2. Using Doubles
3. Making Tens
4. Commutative Property (Flip-flop)
1. Property of Zero
When adding or subtracting by zero, number stays the same!
0+1=1
1-0=1
2. Using Doubles:
Students should be able to easily add all doubles such as:
1+1=2
2+2=4
3+3=6
4+4=8
5+5=10
6+6=12
7+7=14
8+8=16
9+9=18
10+10=20
Once they know these facts, they can use them to add similar questions.
Example:
6+7=
Students think: I know that 6+6=12, so one more is 13. 7+6 =13.
3. Making 10:
Students need to know which facts add up to 10:
1+9=10 9+1=10
2+8=10 8+2=10
3+7=10 7+3=10
4+6=10 6+4=10
5+5=10 5+5=10
They can then use this strategy like the doubles, to help them with similar questions.
2+9= I know that 1+9 = 10, so one more is 11!
Or rounding up the number to make 10 (it is a friendly number, so easier to add).
2+9=
Change the 9 to a 10, and then only add 1 so 11.
Another example:
9+4 = 10 +3 = 13.
4. Commutative property (fancy word for flip flop equations!)
Students should know that if you change around the numbers, it won’t change the answer!
6+4=10
4+6=10.
You can practice this by listing a whole bunch of questions, and then getting the student to change it around and write the answer again.
1. Property of Zero
2. Using Doubles
3. Making Tens
4. Commutative Property (Flip-flop)
1. Property of Zero
When adding or subtracting by zero, number stays the same!
0+1=1
1-0=1
2. Using Doubles:
Students should be able to easily add all doubles such as:
1+1=2
2+2=4
3+3=6
4+4=8
5+5=10
6+6=12
7+7=14
8+8=16
9+9=18
10+10=20
Once they know these facts, they can use them to add similar questions.
Example:
6+7=
Students think: I know that 6+6=12, so one more is 13. 7+6 =13.
3. Making 10:
Students need to know which facts add up to 10:
1+9=10 9+1=10
2+8=10 8+2=10
3+7=10 7+3=10
4+6=10 6+4=10
5+5=10 5+5=10
They can then use this strategy like the doubles, to help them with similar questions.
2+9= I know that 1+9 = 10, so one more is 11!
Or rounding up the number to make 10 (it is a friendly number, so easier to add).
2+9=
Change the 9 to a 10, and then only add 1 so 11.
Another example:
9+4 = 10 +3 = 13.
4. Commutative property (fancy word for flip flop equations!)
Students should know that if you change around the numbers, it won’t change the answer!
6+4=10
4+6=10.
You can practice this by listing a whole bunch of questions, and then getting the student to change it around and write the answer again.