Bunches
This is a level 2 number activity from the Figure It Out series. It is focused on knowing addition facts. 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:
- Know addition facts.
Bunches
Achievement objectives
NA2-3: Know the basic addition and subtraction facts.
Required materials
- Figure It Out, Levels 3-4, Basic facts, "Bunches", page 1
- two dice marked 4,5,6,7,8, and 9
- counters
- a classmate
See Materials that come with this resource to download:
- Bunches game (.pdf)
Activity
This game asks students to practise mental addition of two or more one-digit numbers. Repeated practice using games such as this will help to improve their ability to compute mentally and give them practice with digits that add up to sums from 8 to 18.
To introduce the students to the game, you could ask them what different ways they can make up a total of 11,
For example:
- Using three or more addends.
Players will be able to check their classmate’s totals more easily if they use transparent counters. During the game, you could ask the students to give other possible addends to make up the thrown sum or to justify the use of a particular combination.
At the conclusion of the games, the students could consider which strategies help cover the most numbers.
For example:
- Does it help to cover the high numbers first?
As a variation, the winner could be the player with the lowest sum found by adding the uncovered digits.
You could extend the game by using multiples of 10 on the dice and game board. Another way is to enlarge the size of the triangle game board by extending the rows but keeping a similar variation of numbers as the original pattern.
A game of addition.
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