Addition Snake and Add On

 
 
I had the privilege recently of visiting a school that had purchased many of our resources from eBay a few years ago to kick start their small-group number program. It was very cool to see the games being used in multiple classrooms. It also gave me some motivation to start 'reworking' some of our original collection. Fresh graphics for some and bonus pages, like worksheets and cover pages.
 
Addition Snake was one of our original eBay games. We gave it a fresh new look and added some pages. It is a great game to play when you are first teaching students to 'count-on' in addition. The totals can be no more than 10 (if you use a 6 sided die) and the students get the visual support of the dots on the die. They can say the number on the game board and 'count-on' the dots.
 
If you would like to take a peek, head over to TpT and find it HERE
 
 
Another great way to help encourage counting-on is to play a short game with your class. Use equipment from your 'Core Drawers' - a ten frame and a set of numeral cards. Pick any of the ten frame cards and display it for the students.
 
 
Now simply leave the ten frame number up (in this case, number 4) and then flash numeral cards randomly at your students. Call the number as you go. Students are then encouraged to repeat the number you have said and then 'count-on' using the ten frame as a reference. So in the above example, you would call 5, they would say "5, 6-7-8-9" and emphasize the nine.
 
 
This is a very simple, but powerful way to help students begin to process the counting-on strategy. You can squeeze it into the few minutes that you have between lessons or as an ignition activity prior to commencing your lesson.
 
Thanks so much for stopping by!