Flexible fingers
This is a level 2 number activity from the Figure It Out series. It relates to Stage 5 of the Number Framework. A PDF of the student activity is included.
About this resource
Figure It Out is a series of 80 books published between 1999 and 2009 to support teaching and learning in New Zealand classrooms.
This resource provides the teachers' notes and answers for one activity from the Figure It Out series. A printable PDF of the student activity can be downloaded from the materials that come with this resource.
Specific learning outcomes:
- Use the five based strategy for addition.
Flexible fingers
Achievement objectives
NA2-1: Use simple additive strategies with whole numbers and fractions.
Required materials
- a classmate
- different coloured counter for each player
- 2 dice marked with "choose", 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9
- Figure It Out, Level 2, Number, Book 2, "Flexible fingers", pages 8-9
See Materials that come with this resource to download:
- Flexible fingers activity (.pdf)
- Flexible fingers tens frames (.pdf)
Activity
This activity is designed to give students a visual and kinaesthetic model of numbers up to 10 that can be partitioned into 5 and a remainder. For example, 8 is 5 and 3. When the students make numbers on their hands in pairs and face each other, they can put together their two fives to make 10 and then add the remaining parts of their two numbers. Make sure that they are sitting knee to knee and making the five part of their numbers so that their two fives are directly opposite. This makes it easier to join the two fives to make 10: they simply touch hands.
The quinary tens frames can be used to help make the connection, with the fives down one side. This also makes it easy for the students to see the two fives that make the 10.
You may like to work through "Helping hands" on page 3 of Figure It Out, Level 2, Number, Book 1, with the students before doing this page.
Spend time modelling examples with the students and recording each stage of the addition so that they make the link between the practical activity and the written recording.
9 + 6: 9 = 5 + 4 and 6 = 5 + 1
: (5 + 5 ) + ( 4 + 1)
: 10 + 5
: 15
Game
Ensure that you play this game with the students to really reinforce the five-based strategy. It would be easy for the students to revert to counting on as the strategy to add the two numbers. One way of encouraging them to use the five-based strategy is to get them to record their addition in a table, showing the partitioning.
Numbers rolled |
Five and ? split |
Answer |
|---|---|---|
6 + 9 |
(5 + 1) + (5 + 4) |
10 + 5 = 15 |
7 + 8 |
(5 + 2) + (5 + 3) |
10 + 5 = 15 |
1.
They put the two fives together to make 10 and then add the other fingers.
2.
a. 14: (5 + 5) + 4
b. 15: (5 + 5) + (3 + 2)
c. 16: (5 + 5) + (2 + 4)
d. 14: (5 + 5) + (3 + 1)
e. 13: (5 + 5) + (1 + 2)
f. 17: (5 + 5) + (4 + 3)
A game using addition.
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