Addition basic facts

This resource supports teachers to assess and find appropriate activities for students who need acceleration in their understanding and application of addition basic facts.

Multiple blocks in three groups, representing 3 hundreds, 4 tens, and 4 ones.

New Zealand Curriculum: Level 2

Learning Progression Frameworks: Additive thinking, Signpost 4 to Signpost 4

These activities are intended for students who currently use a count on and back strategy to solve addition and subtraction problems with whole numbers to 20.

Target students should have already developed a degree of part-whole understanding in addition and subtraction contexts (joining and separating). They should have some number facts to call on, particularly number bonds to ten. Understanding of two-digit place value, including the structure of "teen" numbers, will support many of the activities described in this intervention.

Reviews

Addition basic facts

The questions should be presented orally and in a written form (see Addition basic facts) so that the student can refer to them. Present the basic facts by progressively uncovering the problems using a masking card. Half of an A4 sheet is ideal. If appropriate to the knowledge of your students, you could incorporate te reo Māori kupu for numbers, for example, tahi (one).

See Materials that come with this resource to download:

Addition basic facts (.pdf)

Activities

Question 1

I will show you some addition problems. I am looking to see if you know the answers. Don’t worry if you need to work them out.

2 + 3 = 1 + 4 = 6 + 2 = 5 + 4 =

Signs of fluency and understanding

Instantly recalls each fact with no obvious signs of calculation.

What to notice if your student does not solve the problem fluently

Counting on in ones from the first number. This indicates that the student needs to learn their basic addition facts to ten. Solving 1 + 4 by counting on 2, 3, 4, 5 also indicates that the student has yet to understand the commutative property; for example, 1 + 4 = 4 + 1.

Supporting activity

Addition facts to ten

Question 2

I will show you some addition problems. I am looking to see if you know the answers. Don’t worry if you need to work them out.

3 + ___ = 5 (Say “Three and what equals five?”) 2 + ___ = 6 4 + ___ = 9 5 + __ = 8

Signs of fluency and understanding

Instantly names the missing addend with no obvious counting on strategy. The student may pause slightly as they mentally search for the related fact.

What to notice if your student does not solve the problem fluently

Counting on in ones while tracking the counts (possibly on fingers), for example, Finds 2 + __ = 6 by counting 3, 4, 5, 6, and tracking the counts, possibly using their fingers. This indicates that the student needs to learn the basic addition facts to ten.
Long pauses without obvious counting may indicate that the student is scanning available facts to find the required addends.This demonstrates a need for support in organising basic addition facts, such as listing all the addend pairs that make eight.

Supporting activity

Missing addends to ten

Question 3

I will show you some addition problems. I am looking to see if you know the answers. Don’t worry if you need to work them out.

4 + 4 = ____ 7 + 7 = ___ 9 + 9 = ___ 6 + 6 = ___

Signs of fluency and understanding

Instantly recalls the doubles facts without any obvious signs of calculation. This indicates that the student has a strong knowledge base of basic facts beyond ten that they can use to derive unknown facts, such as 8 + 7 = 15.

What to notice if your student does not solve the problem fluently

Counting on, in ones, indicates the student needs to learn their doubles facts to 20.

Supporting activity

Doubles facts

Question 4

I will show you some addition problems. I am looking to see if you know the answers. Don’t worry if you need to work them out.

9 + 6 = ____ 9 + 8 = ___ 9 + 5 = ___ 9 + 7 = ___

Signs of fluency and understanding

Instantly recalls the "nine plus" facts without any obvious signs of calculation. This indicates that the student has a strong knowledge base of basic facts to 20 that they can use to derive unknown facts, such as 8 + 7 = 15.

What to notice if your student does not solve the problem fluently

Deriving "nine plus" facts using teen number knowledge, for example, 9 + 6 = 10 + 5 = 15. The strategy shows the student has part-whole thinking but needs to develop fluency of recall. Continuing to derive these facts adds memory load, which might prohibit more complex calculations.
Counting on in ones to find the sums, possibly supported by use of fingers to track the count. This indicates a need to develop part-whole thinking using teen facts and progress to fluent recall.

Supporting activity

Nine plus facts

Question 5

I will show you some addition problems. I am looking to see if you know the answers. Don’t worry if you need to work them out.

6 + 7 = ____ 8 + 6 = ___ 5 + 7 = ___ 7 + 8 = ___

Signs of fluency and understanding

Instantly recalls the facts without any obvious signs of calculation. This indicates the student has a strong knowledge base of basic addition facts to 20.

What to notice if your student does not solve the problem fluently

Deriving facts using teen number knowledge or doubles, for example, 7 + 8 = 7 + 7 + 1 = 15. The strategy shows the student has part-whole thinking but needs to develop fluency of recall. Continuing to derive these facts adds memory load, which might prohibit more complex calculations.
Counting on in ones to find the sums, possibly supported by use of fingers to track the count. This indicates the student needs to develop part-whole thinking using teen facts and progress to fluent recall.

Supporting activity

Harder addition facts to 20