Dear Teachers,
I should have given you an alliteration alert. As we begin November it is a perfect month to add a daily focus on Number Bonds no matter what grade level you teach. A first grade classroom I was in recently was able to give me all the number bonds for the number 4 They told me that 3 and 1 bonded to make 4 just like 1 and 3 because of the Commutative Property of Addition. Wow! Then, theyextended their thinking to let me know that since 2 “ones” and 2 “ones” bonded to make 4 “ones”, 2 “hundreds” and 2 “hundreds” would bond to make 4 “hundreds”. Let me again say, “Wow”!
Tomorrow is November 3rd. If you have younger students, it would be wonderful to review the bonds for one, two and three. There aren’t a lot of bonds for these small numbers to work on. Just 5 minutes to visually revisit the part, part, whole concept, could pay big dividends. A number bond is simply a graphic organizer and is “stickier” for the brain than 2+1=3 which is the abstract concept. It is also a different approach because it helps to start with the “whole” and ask how many different ways can we make 3? Do we “own” all of them for life?
Thursday will be November 4th. Number Bonds for 4.( Kindergarten might want to start by focusing on recognizing a set of, for example, 3 items without having to count 1, 2, 3. Our 1st -5th Math in Focus trainer taught us that this skill is called “subitizing”. Recognize 4 items, 5 items. Play “I Spy”. I spy 3 items. I spy 4 items, etc., perhaps even try a few very small number bonds.) First grade, you have been working on mastery of the number bonds up to 10. This is a great time to reemphasize these bonds. You will be working on number bonds to 20 in Ch. 7 and addition facts in Ch. 8, so having more and more of the bonds to 10 mastered will
be worth any extra time you can find.
2nd -5th grade teachers: any extra help your students are given on mastery of these number bonds would greatly benefit them. Whether it is mental math or paper and pencil calculations, we can help our students by making these bonds with numbers, bonds for life. The 2nd grade teachers were all sent some 1st grade reteach materials to use as a supplement during warm up time or during a time when you want to differentiate to each learner’s needs, etc. I know the 3rd -5th grade teachers are working with students who do not have bonded that 5 and 3 make 8. Next Monday is the 8th.
It would be an opportune time to help students make these connections. What are all the ways to make 8? Working on 5 through 10 on Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday, you could then proceed to 11-20 the next two weeks.
If you feel your own background knowledge on number bonds could use some help, that is understandable. This is a link from a Blog
that explains the concept well:
If you would like an interactive online number bond game that is free, check out the following:
In this game students can work on bonds to 5, bonds to 10, and even bonds to 100. You can set the game to work on the bonds for the
number you choose. You could use this game with your students on the Mimio to work on this together.
Number bonds for five minutes a day, try it! See if you can find the time during the transitions. Lining up to go to recess?
Work on the number bonds for 5. Coming in from lunch? Have the game on the overhead as students enter to set the tone for academics after lunch. Use individual white boards for students to write the number bonds and show you. I am sure you have even more ideas that would allow you to find those teachable moments to creatively sneak number bonds into November.
As always, please let me know if I can help in any way.
Respectfully,
Lorinda
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