Read the story aloud once, slowly, then again. Take three hands-up answers, not open call-outs. Steer the class toward the word altogether as the signal to add. Don't work out 42 yet; the point of this hook is spotting the action, not doing the sum.

Story 1: join words gives her, altogether. Add. 12 + 8 = 20.

Story 2: remove word left. Take away. 15 - 6 = 9. Then ask the class to predict: when a story says someone needs more, do we add or take away?

Story 3: the trap. Let them predict before revealing. Club needs 20 tickets, sold 14 - a gap story. Sounds like adding but the gap is found by taking away: 20 - 14 = 6. Land it: the gap is what is still missing.

Story 4: back to solid ground, bigger numbers. Team scored 24 then 21, altogether means join. Add. 24 + 21 = 45.

This round is for talking it through together — pupils take turns at the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud.

Before choosing add or take away, ask a pupil to point to the action words and say them aloud. On the medals story, watch for pupils who want to add because it says needs; revoice: a gap is still found by taking away — how much is missing?

Every interactive number now matches the story text exactly, so the board and the screen always agree. Every answer is a full sentence with its units — 29 points, 13 apples, 12 medals, 35 loaves.

These are the practice questions — pupils take turns at the board, check each answer, and the class confirms before moving on. Keep the board work brisk rather than over-explaining.

The order swings between operations on purpose: add (conkers), take away (money), gap (tickets), add (apples). The tickets story is the gap-trap again at bigger numbers; make the class predict the operation before the pupil chooses. Insist on full-sentence answers with units: 63 conkers, €25, 24 tickets, 83 apples.