Number Bond Success!!!

Hi friends! So last Thursday I posted about a number bond game I created {here}. Well I used the game with my second graders on Friday, and I just had to let you know how it went.

 

They LOVED it!!! Number bonds have been a difficult concept for my kiddos to get, because since we just implemented Common Core math this year, they didn't learn any of this number bond stuff in first grade. So the concept behind my {Number Bond Bonanza} game is that the kids will have the opportunity to practice decomposing numbers over and over and over again. It worked! After playing this game for awhile, they got that decomposing thing down!

 

Look at these cuties having fun with number bonds!

  Let me tell you about a couple of things that came up when we played this game for the first time.  The kids have to fill out a recording sheet as they play, showing how they would decompose the numbers they land on, but lots of them did all the ways they could and then wanted to know what they could do when they landed on that number again. (For some single-digit numbers there are only one or two ways to decompose them.) I had one girl come up and ask if she could write a number bond using the commutative property. It took every ounce of self-control I had not to jump up and down and hug her and shout "YES!!!!! YES YOU CAN! I'M SO EXCITED YOU ACTUALLY LEARNED ABOUT THE COMMUTATIVE PROPERTY FROM ME AND I JUST WANT TO HUG YOU FOR BEING SO SMART!!!!!" (It doesn't take much. Lol.) So you can suggest to your students that if they've already decomposed 3 into 1 and 2, they use the commutative property and decompose it into 2 and 1.

 

Something else that came up a lot, which I could change but that would take the fun out of it, was that little "You've earned 1 free treat from your teacher" spot on the game board. Geez. I'd recommend setting a strict 1-treat limit from the getgo. The kids played the game multiple times, and I'm pretty sure they were abusing me and my generosity and my pumpkin bucket full of candy. Hmph.

 

I added some elements to the download. So along with the game you get an anchor chart (color or b&w), a lesson idea, a recording sheet and graph, and a practice sheet. Check it out {here!}

Your kids will love it.

 

 

By the way, the first three people to comment on this post with their email address will get my Number Bond Bonanza game and activities FREE!!!!!

Have a great week!