Year 3 develop mental strategies for addition and subtraction

This week, Year 3 have been busy doing lots of number work to enhance their understanding of place value and to develop fluency with mental strategies for addition and subtraction.

The children have been identifying the value of digits in a variety of numbers, ordering numbers and solving number puzzles and missing number sentences.

There are many different ways to complete additions and subtractions mentally, and the children have enjoyed explaining how they have calculated efficiently.

• '6 + 9 + 4 + 11... I add the number bonds to 10 first' (Max). '39 + 95... I compensate and make the 39 a 40, then subtract 1 from my answer' (Jasper)
• 'If there is a double or near double, it makes my addition or subtraction quicker' (Darcey)
• 'I am more confident with 'partitioning' (pulling numbers apart) and 'bridging' (adding on to the next ten first) in my head' (Liam)

The children have enjoyed using a range of online, interactive games to consolidate their learning, in addition to a good old fashioned dice and board game which required them to apply their knowledge of place value. Many children had some great ideas for their own place value board games!

Parents may wish to play the following popular number game with their child at home: If each letter in your full name had a numerical value, based on the order of the alphabet, and you continued to add each digit until you were left with only one, what would your number be?