Decomposing Numbers + a Freebie!

Well, it's "Fair Week" for my family.  That means a week of crazy-ness.  As you read this, I'm probably either knelt down in front of a hog pen taking pictures of each kid with their pig (all 200 of them!), or maybe we are getting ready for our kids to head into hog showmanship.  That's what Monday looks like for us!  Since I won't have much time to blog this week, I have enlisted the help of some pretty awesome bloggy buddies to keep this thing going this week!  Up first is Janaye from Tales of Frogs and Cupcakes.  Enjoy!
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Helllooooo!!! I am Janaye from Tales of Frogs and Cupcakes!

My blog buddy Lisa has invited me over to guest post and I am SUPER excited about it! AND I am posting about math so I am doubly super excited! ;)


As you may already know, one important component of number sense is the ability to compose and decompose numbers. Students need to understand that there is more than one way to make a number. The ability to think about a number as comprised of different parts is a HUGE success and milestone in number sense.

So what activities can you do to practice this skill?? Here are 3 simple ways:

• Use 5-frames or 10-frames and 2-color counters to explore different combinations of numbers. For instance, make 4 in one way and challenge students to make it another way using a different number of each color, but the same number of counters. Record all combinations for each target number and discuss it.

• Part-part-whole charts are PERFECT for exploring number combinations. Give students a chart and counters. Have them decompose the whole into different combinations of parts.

• Last, I've got a game for you to help your students understand this crucial concept!

In this game, students will roll a die and then find all of the possible PB&J combinations of the target number. Laminate the recording sheet and have students use it over and over!

AND, thanks to a super idea by my friend Marcy at Searching for Teacher Balance, store your cute little sandwich cards in an actual sandwich container! What a great storage solution!

Click here to grab your freebie! I hope you enjoy the game!! Happy decomposing! :)