Power of Ten Manual

Visual Strategies for Learning Adding, Subtracting and Place Value

All Classroom Kits are packaged with this manual. This manual has SIX main sections and an Appendix.

1) Learning the Facts

This section outlines the positive power of using visual tools and patterns and the negative effects of using counting to learn the adding and subtracting facts. The value of using games is introduced and the importance of establishing meaning is emphasized.

2) Teaching Addition

This section gives a step-by-step outline for teaching the facts to eighteen and should be read in conjunction with the “How Many Ways” section which is an important way to make meaning for young children. “How Many Ways” provides some reasons for learning numbers and the Power of Ten© cards provide one tool for developing strategies that apply to all adding. The importance of using and making tens is paramount as is the strategy of making doubles.

3) Teaching Subtraction

This section more or less stands on its own with the proviso that subtraction should be introduced whenever students have to find the difference or compare numbers. These situations often arise in measurement, problem solving, and graphing. Then the teacher is encouraged to introduce subtraction and addition together with a focus on fact families (8 + 7 = 15, 7 + 8 = 15, 15 - 8 = 7, 15 - 7 = 8).

4) Learning About Place Value and Regrouping

Place value should be taught every week and probably every day. The Power of Ten© cards, Power of Ten© place value and problem solving cards, and the ten-frame egg cartons encourage teaching place value at the same time as addition and subtraction, rather than as an independent unit.

5) Teaching Number Facts and Place Value

Using “How Many Ways” “How Many Ways” time is a routine for introducing meaning to ‘number’ on a daily basis and can be used as a tool two to five times a week depending on the grade level. Generally it is used as a tool more often in early primary grades than in grades three or four.

6) Using the Power of Ten© Cards, Egg Carton Ten-Frames and Number Lines for posing and solving problems making connections from problems to “Fact Families” and “All the Facts” sheets

Problem solving is an important way to create meaning for ‘number’. Experience suggests students who can create a word problem (or diagram) for a fact can often figure out the answer without counting. Children who pose and solve problems often invent strategies for counting up, adding on, and visualize number lines as tools. If students are encouraged to invent their own procedures for regrouping then their intuitive sense of the regrouping procedure which is required for numbers in the ten thousands, will be easier for them to learn during the early intermediate grades.

Appendix
The various appendices allow the teacher or parent to make their own cards. There are many games that can be played and there are many assessment sheets to provide the teacher or parent with enough tools to measure adding and subtracting fact mastery. A new section has been added for parents and learning assistance teachers.