Positively Learning: Flip-Flops & More Math Freebies

I swear I teach something other than math!

Yesterday's post featured color-coded addition facts...

if you missed it, click here!

If you downloaded the freebies, you would have seen 4 sets of these:

These are what my students & I call "flip-flops."

First we read the number sentences and then we vote if the sum will be the same. At first, my small group all voted "no way!" :( We perservered, built our snap-cube towers, & by the FOURTH time, I saw five little silent "yes" signals - whew!

We have been working on all the different addition strategies: using manipulatives, drawing a picture, number lines, etc. As a special educator, I want my students to be exposed to all strategies so I can observe to see if a student gravitates towards a particular method. In most cases, we settle on the "Counting On" strategy for addition (and "Counting Up" for subtraction). We use this because it tends to be easier for students with OT goals (handling manipulatives can be tricky) and it lends itself well to double-digit addition (don't even want to think about it right now!).

Today I decided to spend a few minutes "pre-teaching" the counting on strategy that will be formally introduced next week. I made this snap decision after struggling with adding on number lines (don't want to even go there!). I grabbed a sharpie to quickly make these:

classy post-its ;)

We did every combination to make 5 and made a huge-big deal of "flip-flopping" the addends. It worked out SO well (high 5's all around), that I quickly made this set over my lunch break:

I printed these out on different colored cardstock (my students are somewhat territorial). I also made this spooky set (Graphics from the Pond - you rock!) & printed them on orange cardstock: