Here is a story: Saoirse has 50 cm of ribbon and uses 20 cm of it to wrap a present.

Hands up: what is this story really asking us to find out?

We will work through four measures stories together on the board. In each one, look for the action word that tells us whether to add or to take away, and notice the unit we must keep in the answer.

The last story is a capacity one. Watch where the litre turns into 1000 ml before we take anything away.

Today we work through three stories together, one at a time:

• A 25 cm strip and a 35 cm strip joined.
• 1 litre (1000 ml) full, with 500 ml poured out.
• A 60 cm ribbon with 25 cm cut off.

• A 25 cm and a 35 cm strip joined.
• 350 g used from 800 g.
• 1 litre (1000 ml) with 650 ml used, so the litre becomes 1000 ml first.
• A full 1-litre (1000 ml) jug with 750 ml poured out, so we swap the litre first, then take away.