Mental Subtraction (1-12) Home Activities

OVERVIEW & PURPOSE

Week eight of the 1st Grade CountFast program focuses on using repetition and quick calculation to create long-term memory of simple subtraction equations. This module includes equations to solve each day, with an emphasis on recording how long it takes each day to solve those equations correctly.  Spend 15 minutes each day on one of the activities listed in this module.  Card decks should go home with students each day for additional practice with a parent at home. Each week, a new deck is introduced and the previous deck is for the student to keep at home for continued practice.

EDUCATION STANDARDS

1  NCTM Standard: develop fluency with basic number combinations for addition and subtraction

2  NCTM Standard: understand the effects of adding and subtracting whole numbers

3  CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.OA.C.6  Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10.

OBJECTIVES

Develop fluency in solving simple subtraction equations.

DAYS 1 through 5:

Each day this week, we will practice quickly solving a series of ten subtraction problems.  In this deck, your child will work with the following cards each day:

Day 1 – Yellow cards

Day 2 – Blue cards

Day 3 – Pink cards

Day 4 – Green cards

Day 5 – Gold cards

Each evening, use the ‘Time Record Card’ to keep track of how many seconds it takes your child to correctly answer the 10 cards for that day.  Play several rounds each evening and encourage your child to answer faster each round.  You can even work with your child to make a goal of how many seconds he/she would like to solve all 50 cards (yellow, blue, pink, green, gold) by the end of the week.  Plan a fun family reward to celebrate those improvements in speedy calculation!

**Note**

For a fun twist, allow your child to time YOU answering the problems.  You can make it a family race or work together to set improvement goals for speed and accuracy for each family member!