A number sentence is a full maths story written with numbers and signs.
One is hiding under a flap on the board. Watch as the pieces appear one by one: 4 … then + … then 3 … then = …
What could be missing at the end? How do you know?
Three number stories are already built on the ten-frame. Watch each one. Join in when your teacher asks you to say the sentence.
Say it two ways: with plus and equals, and with and and the same as.
Watch the last one carefully: five and five, and both sides of the equals sign match.
The + sign joins two parts. The = sign means both sides are the same.
Today one pupil builds full number sentences on the ten-frame. The rest of us watch and say the whole sentence together.
We will try: 3 cousins and 4 cousins → 5 books and 2 books → 6 counters and 3 counters → 4 red and 4 yellow in matching rows.
In your maths copy, pick one of these and write it once, beautifully:
4 + 3 = 7 or 5 + 5 = 10
Form the + and the = carefully, and leave a little space between each number and each sign.
Today we build and complete these number sentences together: 3 + 5 → 7 + 2 → 6 + 4.
The first part is already on the frame. Add the second part, then say the whole sentence from start to finish before we check.
You're previewing this lesson. Get full access to this lesson and hundreds more — each one ready to teach, with interactive activities, printable resources and pupil progress tracking built in.