Description
🎲 First Grade Math: "Add Them Up!" Dice Game & Three Addend Addition
Get your students rolling with "Add Them Up!", a high-engagement First Grade Math lesson plan designed to master adding three addends within 20. This resource is a powerhouse for ESL/ELL support, featuring heavy scaffolding, visual aids, and language routines that help students move from simple counting to strategic mathematical thinking.
Whether you're looking for a standalone addition activity or a precursor to more complex operations, this lesson uses a fun, competitive dice game to build subitizing skills and fluency with multiple numbers. Students won't just find the sum; they’ll learn to describe their strategies—like making "friendly tens" or "counting on"—using structured academic language.
🎯 Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to:
- Solve for the sum of three addends with totals up to 20.
- Identify and use key math vocabulary: add, addend, sum, and plus sign.
- Apply addition strategies, such as identifying "friendly numbers" (sums of 10) or counting on from the largest number.
- Describe their mathematical thinking to a partner using provided sentence frames and visual supports.
⏰ Time & What’s Included:
Total Lesson Time: 45 minutes
- Introduction (5 minutes): A relatable story problem about Josephine's homework interruptions to hook the class.
- Explicit Instruction (5 minutes): Teacher modeling of a 3-part number sentence ($8+5+5=18$) and vocabulary labeling.
- Guided Practice (10 minutes): Introduction to "Subitizing" (flashing dice patterns) and a walkthrough of the "Add Them Up" game rules.
- Group Work Time (15 minutes): Partner dice game where students compete for counters by rolling the greater sum.
- Assessment (3 minutes): Teacher circulation to check for subitizing vs. counting dots and strategy use.
- Review & Closing (2 minutes): Student reflection on which strategies made the game "easy" or "fun."
📎 What’s Included:
- "Add Them Up!" Dice Game Rules: A clear, step-by-step guide for student partnerships.
- Vocabulary Cards & Glossary: Student-friendly definitions for Tier 2 terms (Add, Addend, Sum, Plus Sign).
- ESL/EL Scaffolding Tools: Teach Background Knowledge template and Student-Facing Language Objectives.
- Math Language Routine Guide: Sentence frames for identifying addends and sums.
- Differentiation Strategies: Specific adaptations for Beginning (L1 support) and Advanced (explanation-focused) learners.
(Please see the preview for the full glossary, vocabulary cards, and game instructions!)
✨ Teaching Highlights / Engagement Tips:
- Subitizing Mastery: The "Flash and Finger" activity trains students to recognize quantities instantly without counting every dot.
- Strategic Thinking: Teaches students that they can add numbers in any order (Commutative Property) to find "friendly tens" first.
- Built-in Competition: Using counters as a reward for the "greater sum" keeps students motivated to check their work and their partner's work.
- Heavy ESL Focus: Includes specific modeling for number sentences and symbols to support English Language Learners.
📚 Classroom Use Cases / Closing:
This lesson is an ideal fit for First Grade math blocks, small group ESL support, or hands-on math centers. It bridges the gap between basic 1:1 counting and mental math fluency. By the end of this session, your students will be "Addend Experts," ready to tackle larger sums and more complex story problems. Ready, set, roll!
Highlights
Description
🎲 First Grade Math: "Add Them Up!" Dice Game & Three Addend Addition
Get your students rolling with "Add Them Up!", a high-engagement First Grade Math lesson plan designed to master adding three addends within 20. This resource is a powerhouse for ESL/ELL support, featuring heavy scaffolding, visual aids, and language routines that help students move from simple counting to strategic mathematical thinking.
Whether you're looking for a standalone addition activity or a precursor to more complex operations, this lesson uses a fun, competitive dice game to build subitizing skills and fluency with multiple numbers. Students won't just find the sum; they’ll learn to describe their strategies—like making "friendly tens" or "counting on"—using structured academic language.
🎯 Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to:
- Solve for the sum of three addends with totals up to 20.
- Identify and use key math vocabulary: add, addend, sum, and plus sign.
- Apply addition strategies, such as identifying "friendly numbers" (sums of 10) or counting on from the largest number.
- Describe their mathematical thinking to a partner using provided sentence frames and visual supports.
⏰ Time & What’s Included:
Total Lesson Time: 45 minutes
- Introduction (5 minutes): A relatable story problem about Josephine's homework interruptions to hook the class.
- Explicit Instruction (5 minutes): Teacher modeling of a 3-part number sentence ($8+5+5=18$) and vocabulary labeling.
- Guided Practice (10 minutes): Introduction to "Subitizing" (flashing dice patterns) and a walkthrough of the "Add Them Up" game rules.
- Group Work Time (15 minutes): Partner dice game where students compete for counters by rolling the greater sum.
- Assessment (3 minutes): Teacher circulation to check for subitizing vs. counting dots and strategy use.
- Review & Closing (2 minutes): Student reflection on which strategies made the game "easy" or "fun."
📎 What’s Included:
- "Add Them Up!" Dice Game Rules: A clear, step-by-step guide for student partnerships.
- Vocabulary Cards & Glossary: Student-friendly definitions for Tier 2 terms (Add, Addend, Sum, Plus Sign).
- ESL/EL Scaffolding Tools: Teach Background Knowledge template and Student-Facing Language Objectives.
- Math Language Routine Guide: Sentence frames for identifying addends and sums.
- Differentiation Strategies: Specific adaptations for Beginning (L1 support) and Advanced (explanation-focused) learners.
(Please see the preview for the full glossary, vocabulary cards, and game instructions!)
✨ Teaching Highlights / Engagement Tips:
- Subitizing Mastery: The "Flash and Finger" activity trains students to recognize quantities instantly without counting every dot.
- Strategic Thinking: Teaches students that they can add numbers in any order (Commutative Property) to find "friendly tens" first.
- Built-in Competition: Using counters as a reward for the "greater sum" keeps students motivated to check their work and their partner's work.
- Heavy ESL Focus: Includes specific modeling for number sentences and symbols to support English Language Learners.
📚 Classroom Use Cases / Closing:
This lesson is an ideal fit for First Grade math blocks, small group ESL support, or hands-on math centers. It bridges the gap between basic 1:1 counting and mental math fluency. By the end of this session, your students will be "Addend Experts," ready to tackle larger sums and more complex story problems. Ready, set, roll!
