Take three hands-up answers, not open call-outs. Give five seconds of quiet think-time first.

Do not confirm the answer yet — the bond diagram in the next step is where the class works it out. Listen for whether pupils count on from 4, or already know the bond to 10.

• □ + 4 = 10 — point at the whole first, then the known part. Ask how many the arm to the empty circle needs.
• □ + 3 = 8 — same move; let a pupil name the missing part before you say it.
• □ − 2 = 6 — this is the one that catches people. Read it aloud together as "a whole, take away 2, leaves 6", then place 6 and 2 into the two part circles first. Only after both parts are seated do you ask what fills the whole — 8. Draw the class's attention to which circle the box sits in.

To check any answer, put it back into the empty circle and read the sentence aloud together.

Talk this one through together — pupils take turns at the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud. Reset the bond for each sum in turn.

For each bond, set the whole and the known part, then invite a pupil to step the empty part up until the whole circle lights up. Named order: □ + 4 = 9 (answer 5), □ + 2 = 7 (answer 5 again — a repeat answer with a different whole, worth flagging), □ + 6 = 11 (answer 5 once more, so the whole and known part both grew but the missing part stayed the same), then □ − 4 = 3, where the box is the whole (parts 3 and 4, whole 7). Hold out for a pupil to notice the last one is a different kind of box before you name it. Never set a hidden value of 0 — Check will not grade until the stepper moves.

This is the practice round — 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 board opens already showing the first bond (whole 9, one part 2), so the class meets that one only once — go straight into solving it rather than introducing it twice.

The whole and the known part get bigger as the practice set goes on. Before each one, ask the caller: is the box a part, or the whole? — the last bond hides the whole (parts 8 and 3, answer 11), which is the make-or-break of the set. On any answer, put it back in the empty circle and read the sentence aloud to confirm the parts fill the whole.