Two rows of counters

Same surface, different depth · Kindergarten · Counting and cardinality

Ink Designed Plain black & white All SSDD sheets

Two rows of counters Kindergarten · Counting and cardinality

Name
Date

Read this first

All four are about the same two rows. But they are not the same question — read each one twice.

All four questions are about this

The top row has 5 counters. The bottom row has 3 counters.

1Four different questionsThey look alike. They are not. Answer each one.

a)How many counters altogether?

b)How many more are in the top row than the bottom row?

c)Which row has fewer counters?

d)Take 2 away from the top row. How many are left in it?

Scratch space — work it out here

Nice work! Colour a star for every one you get right.

izzimath · Kindergarten · seed 0 · K.CC.C.6, K.OA.A.1, K.OA.A.2
Same surface, four different methods. The key names the method each one needed.

Two rows of counters Kindergarten · Counting and cardinality

Name
Date

All four questions are about this

The top row has 5 counters. The bottom row has 3 counters.

1Four different questionsEach answer with the method it needed.

a)How many counters altogether?

8 Put together — add

5 and 3 more is 8. Count on from 5: six, seven, eight.

b)How many more are in the top row than the bottom row?

2 Compare — find the difference

Match them up in pairs. 3 pairs up, and 2 are left over in the top row.

c)Which row has fewer counters?

the bottom row Compare — name the smaller

3 is less than 5, so the bottom row has fewer. This one wants a row, not a number.

d)Take 2 away from the top row. How many are left in it?

3 Take from — subtract

5 take away 2 is 3. Only the top row changes; the bottom row is not part of this one.

For the grown-up. If they get stuck, work through the first one together, then hand it back. Reading the working aloud is worth more than marking it — feedback that explains is worth several times feedback that only says right or wrong, and the gap is wider in maths than in any other subject.

izzimath · Kindergarten · seed 0 · K.CC.C.6, K.OA.A.1, K.OA.A.2

Why four questions is the whole sheet

A column of twenty subtractions trains the procedure. It cannot train deciding which procedure the question wants, because on a page of subtraction the answer to “what do I do here” is always the same. That decision is where most mistakes on mixed work come from.

So these four questions share one surface — The top row has 5 counters. The bottom row has 3 counters. — and need four different methods. The answer key names the method each one wanted, which is the column to read together afterwards.

The format is Craig Barton's, published as a large open bank at ssddproblems.com. These sets are ours; the idea is his.