Cup of Cocoa - Addition with Three-Addends Freebie

I hope your students came back to school ready and eager to learn! Today I want to share one of my favorite winter math freebies with you and show you some ways you can differentiate to support your struggling students. This is a great activity for practicing addition with 3-addends.

Addition with 3-Addends

One of the ways to review math facts in January is with 3-addends. This Cup of Cocoa pack is designed to be used as a Scoot or Roam-the-Room activity. Students walk around the room and complete the task cards on the go. This helps get the wiggles out and gets them moving after sitting during your lesson. You can also use this activity in a math center. Simply place the cards on a ring for students to easily access and use.

This Cup of Cocoa pack is designed to be used as a Scoot or Roam-the-Room activity. Students walk around the room and complete the task cards on the go. This helps get the wiggles out and gets them moving after sitting during your lesson. You can also use this activity in a math center. Simply place the cards on a ring for students to easily access and use.

However, if you have a few students who need a little more support completing addition with 3-addends, you can bring the materials to your small group table. One of the ways to support struggling students is with a 20-frame card and manipulatives. Since this activity works with 3-addends, I suggest you have manipulatives in three different colors. The mini erasers from the Target Dollar Spot work really well, but you can also use cubes or counters. Students fill the frame in the same order as the task card. This works well with the first eight task cards that ask students to find the sum.

When working on addition with 3-addends, students can use a 20-frame with three different colors of math manipulatives.

With the next eight task cards, students are given the sum and two addends. For these problems, you can provide a number line and two clothespins. For example, look at the picture below. First, students would place the first clothespin on 18, which is the sum on the cocoa mug, or target number. Next, students would combine the other two addends (5+8) and use the second clothespin to mark 13. Finally, students would then count on from 13 to 18 to determine the missing addend (5). This is just one strategy to help students solve these types of problems.