Year 2

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We can use partitioning to help us to carry out calculations.

Year 2 Unit 14

What we are learning:

  • All the work we have looked at about place value and partitioning numbers will really help your child to add and subtract.
  • If they find this difficult then do some more work, play more games developing their place value and their partitioning skills.
  • When your child’s understanding of place value and partitioning is well developed the next step in using these skills to calculate should be straight forward.
  • Start by doing the partitioning practically using the bundles of straws and then your child will be able to move on to partitioning numbers without the straws and will be able to use jottings to support their calculations.
ACTIVITY 1: ADDING TENS AND UNITS WITH STRAWS

Activities you can do at home:

Use the straws to work out the answer to the following question: 56 + 28
First make 56 using the straws: 5 bundles of ten straws and 6 single straws. Then collect another 28 straws: 2 bundles of ten and 8 single straws. To combine these we put together all the bundles of 10 and then the all the single straws. So we have seven bundles of ten ~ 70 and 14 single straws (which the child should then suggest that we make into another bundle of ten with four single straws – OR you will need to model this). So altogether we have a total of 84 straws.
– Using jottings record the partitioning – (use plain paper NOT squared paper).
– Your jottings might look like this:

Try other examples, e.g. 27 + 35, 34 + 57

If crossing the tens boundary is too difficult at this stage ( it shouldn’t be) then try questions like this that do not cross a tens boundary: 27 + 51, 34 + 54
Some children will already be able to mentally combine 70 and 14 so would not need to make the fourteen into a bundle of ten and four single straws.

Good questions to ask:

How can we partition this number?
What do we get when we add the tens?
What do we get when we add the units?
What is the total?

If your child:

Wants to record their jottings in a different way
This is fine, as long as they can explain what they are doing and how writing down the jotting helps them

Extension Activity

Please use this activity when you think your child understands the unit of work. It will deepen and extend your child’s understanding of this unit.

Downloads:

Extension activity (PDF)