More and Fewer (to ten)

It's a lovely day in the park, the sun is shining, Mr Squeaks is doing flips. Mr. Squeaks is doing flips?

When Mr. Squeaks was a teenager he used to be on a gymnastics team! But, how many tricks did he do with his team? Let's learn about "more and fewer, within ten" to help! What does the word MORE mean? When someone uses the word more, they are adding to what they already have. We use the word more in maths to talk about ADDITION. What does the word FEWER mean? When someone uses the word fewer, they are saying they have less, or they are taking away. We use the words fewer or less in maths to talk about SUBTRACTION. When you add or subtract, you can count on or back to help. Now that we've learnt a bit about 'more' and 'fewer', let's take a look at Mr. Squeaks' tricks. If he started with seven hops and added two more, how many did he do in total? We used the word MORE, so this will be an ADDITION equation. Start by creating an equation. Here we have seven plus two. Next, start with the larger number. Then, count on the smaller number. Here we will start with seven and count on two. Count with me! Seven, eight, nine. Mr. Squeaks did nine hops in total! SO, seven plus two equals nine. After his hops, Mr. Squeaks ALWAYS did flips. If he thought that he had done six, but he actually did three FEWER, how many flips did he do? We used the word FEWER, so this will be a SUBTRACTION equation. Start by creating an equation. Here, it is six minus three. Next, start with the larger number, six. Then, count backwards three, as three is the smaller number. Count back with me! Six, five, four, three. Mr. Squeaks did three flips in total. SO, six minus three equals three. The finale of his routine was mushroom stuffing! If he started with four mushrooms and added three more, how many did he stuff in total? Will this be subtraction or addition?

We used the word more, so it is addition. Start by creating an equation. Here, it is four plus three. Next, start with the larger number. Then, count on three, the smaller number. Count with me! Four, five, six, seven. Mr. Squeaks stuffed seven mushrooms in his cheeks. SO, four plus three equals seven. Before we hear more about the glory days, let's review. Today we learnt about MORE and FEWER. We learnt that in maths, more is used to talk about addition and fewer or less are used to talk about subtraction. We also added and subtracted by creating an equation, counting on or back, and finding the answer! Now, let's see about those flips! "Wow! You know, this sounds JUST like this book I read last week, the great hamster flips!"