Our class puppet is working out 9 + 2. Watch what the puppet does: it starts all the way back at 1 and counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
Was there a quicker way? What would you tell the puppet to do so it does not have to count so far?
Act out the puppet counting all the way from 1 in a slow, tiring voice so the long way feels like hard work. Take two or three hands-up answers, not open call-outs. Listen for a pupil who says start on the 9 — that is the seed for the whole lesson.
The number line shows each sum as little jumps forward. Watch where the marker starts and count the jumps with me. Two of these you'll predict before we reveal them.
9 + 2: start on 9 (the bigger number), two jumps, 10 then 11, land on 11. Point to both arcs, count aloud one, two; stress we did not go back to 1.
7 + 1: pause before revealing, take a predicted landing. One jump from 7 lands on 8.
12 + 0: the make-or-break idea. Zero means nothing joins, so no jump, marker stays on 12. Let the stillness do the teaching.
17 + 2: keep it brisk, quick predicted landing before reveal. Two jumps, 18 then 19, land on 19. Link back to 9 + 2, same two jumps, further along the line.
Draw out that we started on the bigger number every time.
We will work through four sums together, one at a time on the number line, and I will call a different pupil up to the board for each one. While one pupil plots, everyone else follows along and counts each little jump aloud together.
First up is 8 + 1 — which number do we stand on, and how many jumps? When that one is done, we will look at 6 + 2, then 10 + 0, and last of all 15 + 2. Watch closely when we reach 10 + 0 — that one is the surprise!
This round is for talking it through together — pupils take turns at the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud.
Call each sum in turn (8 + 1, 6 + 2, 10 + 0, 15 + 2) and send a different pupil to the board to plot the jumps. Have the whole class count each jump aloud as it draws. On 10 + 0, ask the class to predict first — many will expect a jump; let them see there is none. Rotate four pupils so more than one pair of hands touches the board.
In your maths copy, write 9 + 2 = 11. Say it aloud as you write: nine plus two equals eleven. Form the + sign and the = sign carefully.
Walk the room and glance for careful sign formation — no individual marking, this is whole-class copybook practice, not assessment.
We plot these on the board one at a time, and a different pupil comes up for each while the class counts every little jump aloud together: 8 + 1, then 11 + 2, then 15 + 0, then 17 + 2. Start on the bigger number, count your little jumps, and use the Check button to see the tick. The 15 + 0 one will try to trick you — remember what adding zero does!
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 zero challenge (15 + 0) is the pause where the lesson pays off: ask the class to predict the landing before the pupil plots it, then let the Check tick confirm that nothing moved. On the +1 and +2 challenges keep asking which number did you start on, and why the bigger one?
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