Joining and Separating

Focus Joining and separating groups and recognizing

the connection between these two actions

3-1

n the simplest sense, addition means joining and subtraction means separating. In this section, the initial explorations with single blocks expose children to these two actions and the relationship between them. Children then broaden their understanding of these operations by modeling a variety of story problems.

Exploring Joining and Separating

Have children sit in pairs with a work mat between them. Have one child put 5 blocks on his or her side of the mat and the other child place 8 blocks on the other side. Ask,

If you put these blocks together, how many will there be?
Most children will put the blocks together and count to find the number in all. Some children may count on from their own group of blocks. Encourage children to demonstrate their strategies. Through such demonstrations, children are exposed to other counting techniques and may choose to adopt those that are more efficient. Have children represent what they did with the blocks. They may use drawings, stamps, numbers, or words. Children already familiar with addition and equals signs may include them in their representations. Have children share and explain their recordings. Eventually, all children should connect number sentences to actions with the blocks. Next have each pair place 12 blocks on the mat. Ask one child to remove 7 of them. Ask,

How many blocks are left?

When children find the answer, have them record what they did with the blocks, using drawings, stamps, numbers, number sentences, or words.

Making Connections
Have the children place 4 blocks on one side of the mat and 5 blocks on the other side. Once the children have combined the blocks and found the total ask,

If you took the 4 blocks away again, how many blocks would be left?
57

3-1
Repeat the process with different numbers until children can predict the number of blocks that would remain. Next have children put 10 blocks on the mat. Then ask one child to choose some number of blocks to take away, and move those blocks to one side of the mat. The other child moves the remaining blocks to the other side. Together, the children agree on how many blocks are on each side of the mat. Ask,

If you put your two piles back together, how many blocks will there be?
Repeat with different numbers until children can predict the number of rejoined blocks without actually moving and counting them. Encourage children to generalize this idea by asking,

How do you know it will be the same number?

Exploring Story Problems

Once the basic ideas of joining and separating are established, children should be exposed to the normal variety of story problems in your curriculum. In the beginning, however, provide problems specifically about the blocks. For example, have two children dramatize problems such as the following:

You have 7 blocks. Your friend has 5 blocks. How many blocks are there when you put your blocks together? You have 8 blocks. You give 3 of them to a friend. How many blocks do you have now? How many blocks will you have when your friend gives the blocks back to you?
In each case, once the number of blocks has been established, have several children retell the story of what was done with the blocks. Through such retellings, other children have the opportunity to make the activity their own, and all of them repeatedly hear the language associated with joining or separating blocks. Encourage children to connect these actions to representations made with drawings, stamps, or number sentences.

This child drew blocks and wrote numerals to represent a joining story problem.

When appropriate, introduce a story problem with another context and have children use the blocks to represent the situation. Using the blocks to model
58

3-1
stories helps children focus on the actions in the problems. You can also encourage children to create their own problems. Throughout this unit, children need numerous opportunities to solve and pose story problems. Their own problems will have greater variety if they are exposed to diverse problem situations and structures. Classroom events, important happenings in their lives, and treasured literature all provide meaningful settings for children.

Practicing Key Ideas

Inside and Out
Draw a large circle on a heavy piece of paper. Have children place a group of single blocks in the circle and count them. Next children take away some of the blocks and put them outside the ring. Children count the number of blocks inside and out and represent their findings. Then, children predict how many blocks there will be when they put the outside blocks back inside the circle. Children can count to check their predictions.

All About Eight

Working individually or in pairs, children put 8 single blocks on their work mats.They move some blocks to one side of the mat and push the remaining blocks to the other side. Children then represent the number of blocks on each side using drawings, stamps, numbers, or number sentences. Children repeat the activity until they think they have found all of the possible combinations.

Through Inside and Out, children actively separate blocks and recombine them, predicting the results.

Have children share their findings and discuss any patterns that they see. The activity can be repeated many times, beginning with different numbers of blocks. In fact, you might have children systematically find all of the combinations for the numbers 3 through 10.

Ten
Pairs of children work together with 10 single blocks and a holder. One child places some of the blocks in the holder and removes the others from view. The other child then decides how many more blocks are needed to fill the holder. Children use the blocks to check and then repeat the activity, reversing roles. Conversely, children can begin with the 10 blocks packed in the holder. One child names the number of blocks that they will remove. The other child tells the number of blocks that will remain. Together, they remove the specified number of blocks to check.
59

3-1
Cover Up
Pairs of children work together with a group of single blocks. Children agree on the number of blocks they have. Then one child closes his or her eyes while the other child covers up some blocks with a hand or cup. The first childs task is to identify the number of blocks that are missing. Children count the blocks to check. They then repeat the activity, reversing roles.

Tell a Story
Present three related numbersfor example, 4, 8, and 12and have children tell or write a corresponding number story. You might also provide some idea words such as huge, dinosaur, and ate for children to incorporate in their stories. Provide time for sharing and modeling the childrens stories with blocks, so that everyone sees the variety of stories that can be created using these same three numbers.

Assessing Learning
1. Have the child make two groups of blocks, one of 6 blocks and one of 5 blocks. Ask,

How many blocks are there in all?

Does the child form the groups correctly? recount all the blocks to find the total or count on from one of the groups? answer correctly? 2. Have the child place 14 blocks on a work mat. Then ask the child to give you 8 of them and tell you how many blocks are left on the mat. After the child completes this task, ask,

If I put back the 8 blocks, how many would there be on the mat? How do you know?
Does the child identify the number of remaining blocks correctly? replace the blocks and count them all or immediately recognize the answer? explain his or her thinking clearly? 3. Present a story problem about blocks. For example:

I have 6 blocks. You have 9 blocks. How many blocks do we have together?
Does the child model the problem correctly? find the correct answer?

60