Entertaining as well as educational, this math activity about decomposing numbers is bound to capture the engagement of young learners. Given a cup and five two-color counters, young mathematicians simply shake and spill the cup, creating an addition equation that represents the number of each color showing. Adapt this instructional activity to teaching about subtraction by having students write equations that show the difference between the two colors rather than the sum. Implement this fun activity first as a whole group, including it as a center during math rotations once children become familiar with the procedure.

Concepts

addition, decomposing numbers, equations, number combinations, numbers, number sentence

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Additional Tags

decomposing numbers, addition, equation, number sentence, parts and wholes, composing numbers, number combinations, math

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Pros

• Guiding questions are included that support children with learning to decompose numbers
• Directions for the activity are straightforward and easy to understand
• Offers a suggestion for creating homemade two-color counters

Cons

• A worksheet or graphic organizer is required to support children with recording the results of the activity
• Requires a class supply of two-color counters

Common Core

K.OA.A.3 MP6 MP7