Addition woes

Dear parents,

We  started addition this week and there were some frustrated and some that had no idea what adding means. I hope you have gone over the vocabulary with them in Chinese on add, equals etc. This helps them to have a head start on the language part on math.

First of all, I want them to use manipulatives when they do their addition problem.

for example 1+1=

they have to draw 0 + 0 =
*circle plus circle equals?
then they count the circles one,two
therefore the answer is 2

so 1+1= 2

 0 + 0 = 0  (using circles to draw, note the placement of the circles)
             0


There have been a lot of different ways drawing the circles, I want them to use a standard way to draw to avoid confusion and makes it easier for them to count and recognize.

I have send out an email already (and will send home a note tomorrow-thurs) on how to draw those circles.  Please refer to that attachment.
Hopefully this helps. I have even use ten blocks to help some with addition, it has helped many, but some are still confused, I will try my best to reteach until most or all of the students get addition.

Most common mistakes I note when they are drawing circles:

1. They draw their circles everywhere and they end up getting confused how many circles are there
for example 1+1=
they draw 00000000000000 0000 00000   000

2. Their circles are unclear and overlap with other circles so they get confused with how many circles are there

3.  if the problem is 1+3, they should draw 1 circle + 3 circles, right? but some end up drawing 2 circles + 4 circles, so their answer will be wrong, if they draw the circles on the question wrongly
for example 1+3
they draw 00+ 0000 (which is the wrong amount)

4. They write their add sign after the equals sign, so they get confused
for example 1+2
they write it like this 000=+
5. they write their answer first and then draw some circles and then the answer
for example 1+3
they write it like this 4 000+0=

Hopefully this helps. I will send home a practice sheet with the first example done for you, that way you can practice.



Lin Lao Shi