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Year 1

Find the missing part in addition and subtraction stories

I can solve addition and subtraction stories where the ‘end’ of the story is missing.

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New

Year 1

Find the missing part in addition and subtraction stories

I can solve addition and subtraction stories where the ‘end’ of the story is missing.

Download all resources

Share activities with pupils

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Lesson details

Key learning points

The more that is added to an amount at the start of an addition, the greater the amount at the end of the story will be.
The more that is subtracted from the amount at the start of a subtraction, the smaller the amount at the end will be.

Common misconception

Children may not have yet formed generalisations about the increase or decrease that takes place when numbers are added or subtracted, so may predict answers that are not logical or possible.

Encourage children to generalise by posing errors to reason about, encouraging predictions about what will happen to the size of amounts when adding and subtracting. Encourage use of practical equipment to demonstrate their explanations.

Keywords

Add - To find the total, or sum, by combining two or more parts (addends), or to increase an amount by adding another.
Subtract - To partition one part from another (the subtrahend from the difference), or to decrease an amount by taking an amount away.

Encourage children to represent equations using practical equipment, saying what each part of the equation represents as they do so. Provide opportunities for them to tell and act out their own stories to match equations, so strong links are formed between the concrete and the abstract.

Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.

Which equation correctly represents the story? First, there were 6 stickers in my books. Then, I put some more in my book. Now, there are 9 stickers in my book.

___ + 6 = 9

Correct answer: 6 + ___ = 9

6 + 9 = ___

Q2.

Use the picture to help you complete the missing number equation. ___ + 2 = 6

Correct answer: 4

Q3.

Which tens frame shows the missing first part of this story?

Correct Answer: An image in a quiz

Q4.

At the start of the story, there was 1 egg in the egg box. At the end of the story, there were 6 eggs in the egg box. How many eggs were added?

Correct Answer: 5, five, 5 eggs

Q5.

Which equation represents the story and shows the missing part? We don't know how many pencils were in the pot at first. Then, 3 pencils were added. Now, there are 7 pencils in the pot.

Correct answer: 4 + 3 = 7

3 + 4 = 7

7 + 3 = 10

Q6.

Sam writes this equation to represent his story. 5 + ___ = 8 First, there were 5 cats on a wall. Then, ___ cats jumped onto the wall. Now, there are 8 cats on the wall. What is the missing addend?

Correct answer: 3