Acting out add and take-away stories within 10

When you reach for it

A story problem is a tiny story with a number question at the end: some things are there, some more come or some go away, and we ask how many there are now. A child solves it by acting it out with objects or fingers, then by drawing it, and finally by telling it as an equation such as 4 + 3 = 7. This week moves through those three steps, and ends with children making up their own stories to match an equation. It rests on adding as putting together and subtracting as taking away. Keep every number at 10 or below.

Day 1: Acting out stories where more come

You need: a strip of tape on the floor for a line at the drinking fountain, a sheet of paper with a pond drawn on it (the story mat), about 10 counters.

Ask 2 children to stand in line at the tape. Tell the story slowly: “Two children are waiting for a drink. Five more children come to wait.” Five more children walk over. Ask, “How many children are in line now?” Let the class count: 7.

Then move the story to the mat. Say, “Four fish swim in the pond,” and have the child put 4 counters on the pond. “One more fish swims in.” The child slides 1 more counter on. Ask, “How many fish now? Did the number of fish get bigger or smaller? Why?” The answer you want: bigger, because more fish came.

Practice. Act out each story with counters, then answer.

1. 1 bug sits on a leaf. 3 more bugs land. How many bugs now? Answer: 4.
2. 8 apples are in a basket. Dad puts in 1 more. How many apples now? Answer: 9.
3. 6 children sit on the rug. 1 more sits down. How many now? Answer: 7.
4. Use fingers: 3 cats sit on a porch (hold up 3), and 3 more come (hold up 3 on the other hand). How many cats? Answer: 6 fingers are up, so 6 cats.

Day 2: Acting out stories where some go away

You need: the tape line, a paper plate, about 10 counters.

Ask 4 children to stand in line. “Four children are waiting for a drink. Two of them are called back to their table.” Two children walk back to their seats. Ask, “How many are still waiting?” 2. Point out that the children who left are no longer in the group, so they are not counted.

On the plate: “There are eight cookies on the plate.” The child puts out 8 counters. “Sam eats two.” The child takes 2 counters off the plate and puts them aside. Ask, “How many cookies are left? Where did the other two go?” Taking the counters right off the plate, not just pointing, keeps the leaving part of the story clear.

Practice. Act out each story, then answer.

1. 6 bunnies are in the garden. 2 hop away. How many are left? Answer: 4.
2. Rosa has 9 pennies. She spends 1. How many does she have now? Answer: 8.
3. 4 children wait at the slide. 1 goes home. How many are waiting? Answer: 3.
4. 5 shells lie on the sand. A wave washes 4 away. How many shells are left? Answer: 1.

Day 3: Drawing the story

You need: paper and crayons.

A drawing keeps the story when the counters are put away. Show the children that a circle can stand for each thing: there is no need to draw a real kite. Tell the story “Four kites are flying. Three more fly up,” and draw 4 dark circles, then 3 open circles a little apart for the ones that came.

Ask, “Which circles are the kites that were already flying? Which ones flew up? How many kites are there in all?” 7.

For a take-away story, draw everything at the start, then mark the ones that leave with an X. “Nine muffins are on a tray. Lee’s family eats three.” Draw 9 circles and put an X over 3 of them. The circles without an X are the ones left: 6.

Practice.

1. Draw this: 5 hats hang on hooks; 2 more are hung up. How many hats? Answer: 5 circles and 2 more, 7 hats.
2. Draw this: there are 5 blueberries; 3 are eaten. How many are left? Answer: 5 circles with an X on 3, so 2 blueberries are left.
3. Draw this: 1 snail is on a wall; 5 more crawl up. How many snails? Answer: 6.
4. Tell a story for the drawing below. Answer: any story where there were 6 and 1 went away, with 5 left; for example, “Six balls were in a bin. One rolled away. Five are still in the bin.”

Day 4: Telling the story as an equation

You need: the drawings from Day 3, paper, counters.

Go back to the kite drawing and write 4 + 3 = 7 under it. Point to each part as you read it: “Four kites (point to the dark circles), and three more (point to the open ones), make seven kites (point to all of them).” Then write 9 - 3 = 6 under the muffin drawing and read it: “Nine muffins, take away the three that were eaten, leaves six.” The first number is how many there were at the start, the second is how many came or went, and the number after = is how many there are at the end.

Now turn it around. Write 4 + 4 = ? and ask, “Who can tell a story for this?” One child might say, “Four bees are on a flower. Four more bees come. How many bees?” Have the class act it out with counters to find 8. A good story has a start of 4, has 4 more coming, and asks how many now.

Practice.

1. Write an equation: 7 children are on the swings; 2 more join them. Answer: 7 + 2 = 9.
2. Write an equation: there are 10 pretzels; 8 are eaten. Answer: 10 - 8 = 2.
3. Tell a story for 2 + 3 = ?. Answer: the answer is 5; for example, “Two dogs are in the park. Three more run in. Now there are five dogs.”
4. Tell a story for 9 - 2 = ?. Answer: the answer is 7; for example, “Nine leaves are on a branch. Two blow off. Seven are left.”
5. 7 boats are at the dock and 1 sails away. Is the equation an addition or a subtraction? Answer: a subtraction, because a boat went away: 7 - 1 = 6.

Exercises

1. Tell this story: “There are 2 pigs in the mud. 8 more pigs jump in.” Ask the child to act it out with counters, draw it, and write the equation.
2. Write 10 - 3 = ? and ask the child to tell a story for it, draw it, and say the answer.

Where this goes next

These are stories where the end is missing; stories with the total missing say more about them. Later, the missing number moves to the middle or the start in Problems with the start, change or result missing and Problems with the starting amount missing. The equations written on Day 4 grow into fast Adding within five and ten and Subtracting within ten, and the part that came or went becomes a part of a whole in Parts, wholes and number bonds. The circle drawings grow into bar models.