Sorting Activities Build Addition Fluency

Freebie!

It's almost January and sooner than we know it, both teachers and students will be back in school.  The beginning of January is often a time when skills taught in the fall are reviewed.  This is necessary because while they were away from school, they started to forget a few things.  January is also a time to get back into a routine.  That's hard for some children!  They've been sleeping in for an extra few hours every day and perhaps they are running . . . um . . .  their own "daily schedule".

I received a set of clip art from Graphics From the Pond during one of her flash freebies this past week.  We had some snow days so I used her freebie graphics to make an addition fluency builder.  I decided to make it the third of my "Home For the Holidays" freebies.  If you want the other freebies from this promotion, you'll need to scroll through the past few posts to find them.

Students cut out addition sentences on the broken lines.

This packet has addition sorts for the children to practice speed and accuracy with.  I made the activities for sums from 3 through 20 with graduated degrees of difficulty from one sheet to another.  First the children cut out the addition sentences.  Then they sort them with the appropriate sum.  They can glue the addition sentences to the appropriate groups as well. 

Students sort the facts prior to gluing.

Students can affix the addition sentences with the appropriate groups after the sort is completed.

Here's a close up.

I added a few pages (one is shown below) that could be used in place of the numerical sorts. Those pages might work with students that need additional practice with pictorial representations of the addition equations.

This student is coloring in "snowflakes" to represent an addition equation with the sum of nine.  She will use another color to represent the second addend.  This method provides her with a pictorial representation of the addition equation.

Students can use two colors to color the snowflakes to create a visual representation of the addition fact.

 Here is a brief video about the addition sorts.

As I mentioned earlier, it's hard for students to get back into the routine of school when they return in January.  They've been on holiday for two weeks and now they have to go to school for seven or more hours!  One thing that can help make it easier for them (It's easier for teachers too!) is to incorporate games into the instructional day.  With this in mind, I added two games with this packet.  The first game is called, "Let's Play Snowflake Pie".  First the students color each piece of pie a different color.  The student directions specify the colors to use.  It does not matter which piece is colored pink, blue, etc . . .   You'll want to have them color lightly so the sums printed on each piece of pie remain visible.  The teacher uses the calling cards to call out a color along with the sum.  Students that have both the color and sum called out will stand up and recite an addition sentence that is equivalent to the sum.  An example might be to say, "Blue twelve".  Students with a "Blue twelve" stand and recall an addition sentence that will work with the equation.  I intended this game to have no winners or losers.  There is no end to the game until the teacher calls time.  There are two snowflake pies so the children can practice adding with both odd and even sums - depending on which pie you choose to use in a given day. 

Each piece of "pie" must be colored by the students. A total of six colors are used. The teacher calls out colors and numbers. If the student has a piece of pie with the color and number called, he/she stands up and recites an addition fact to go with the sum. (In the picture shown above, if the teachers called out "Orange 7" the student would stand up. However, he would not stand if "Orange 5" was called since he does not have that slice of pie.) Warm up the facts for a few minutes before starting the game.

The other game is called, "Eating Snow!"  The are eight unique "snow pies".  Each player gets one of the "snow pies".  This game is ideal for small groups but could also be played with the whole class.  When playing with the whole class, some students will have duplicate sheets and there will be multiple winners.  "Eating Snow!" is a game of chance and not one of skill.  In this game, the teacher calls out an addition sentence but omits the sum.  The students look and their pie pieces to see if they have the sum.  Those that have the sum turn that piece of pie face down.  The winner or winners are the first students to "Eat Snow" - that is, they eat their whole pie before anyone else.

Students cut around the solid black line. Then they cut on the broken lines in the center.

Students turn the pie pieces face down when they have the sum to an addition problem that is called out. The first student(s) that have all their pieces turned over are the winners. The teacher checks to see that the sums covered on the pie pieces are ones that matched problems used.

Want to try this freebie?  Click the image below:

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