How to Support Addition and Subtraction Strategies with Ready Set Math
Summaries of:
Ready Set Math Module 2: Addition and Subtraction: Counting-based Strategies
Ready Set Math Module 3: Addition and Subtraction to 10: Strategies and Basic Facts
Ready Set Math Module 4: Addition and Subtraction to 20: Strategies and Basic Facts
Blog post was written by: Melissa Wilke and Kurt Kinsey
From Counting to Fact Fluency
Rote memorization can be a broken road for reaching fact fluency for addition and subtraction.
A secure road begins with early approaches that typically involve counting-based strategies and later shifts to non-counting strategies that support a pathway to fluency for basic facts to 20.
Three Stages
- Count-by-one strategies
- Number relationships and key fact knowledge in the range to 10
- Number relationships and key fact knowledge in the range to 20
From the early foundation skill of counting individual items in a single collection, students shift counting to find the total for two collections and to find the number remaining when items are removed.
These early counting experiences establish a foundation for more advanced addition and subtraction strategies.
These experiences typically begin with tangible items (e.g., counters) for students to manipulate and count and transition to a more abstract representation of quantity.
While students engage in counting experiences through this progression, they develop increasingly more sophisticated counting-based strategies.
Learning Progressions
The progression of lessons and activities in the Ready Set Math module, Addition and Subtraction: Counting-based Strategies, emulates this learning progression through 35 large group and small group lessons and 16 independent activities.
The learning progression shifts from counting-based strategies toward the use of relational thinking and non-count-by-one strategies, supporting the pathway to fluency for basic addition and subtraction facts in the range to 20.
The progression of lessons and activities begins with the use of visual models using structured ten and twenty frames as well as bead racks.
Using these instructional settings supports students in developing relational thinking and more sophisticated strategies.
As the module progresses to later sub-goals, the incorporation of settings is decreased and students move to more formal mathematics involving written expressions and verbal presentations.
Where to next with Ready Set Math
The progression of lessons and activities in the Ready Set Math modules, Addition and Subtraction to 10: Strategies and Basic Facts and Addition and Subtraction to 20: Strategies and Basic Facts, incorporate this teaching and learning through a combined total of 80 large group and small group lessons and 42 independent activities.
The ultimate end goal is for students to gain fluency and automatized knowledge of the basic facts.
Professional Development with Ready Set Math
Throughout the modules, teachers are supported in-the-moment with professional learning and teaching tips for implementation and facilitation. These moments are aligned with Math Recovery research and best practices through our Guiding Principles bringing awareness to the intricacies supporting students in gaining fluency for addition and subtraction facts to 20.
Learn more about Ready Set Math from US Math Recovery®
More about Ready Set Math
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