Fact Families: Add and Subtract within 18

Making connections between addition subtraction is so important. I love using fact families for this.

Practicing Fact Families Addition and Subtraction within 18 | Fun turn around dance and other activities to help first graders to practice fact family facts and make the connection between adding and subtracting.

Fact Family “Turn Around” Dance

To introduce fact families, we do the turn around dance. Kids hold up a fact and we sing as they make a new fact that is true. It helps them see a great visual and begin to be comfortable moving numbers around to make fact families.

The first time we do the activity, I’ll direct the students and tell them where to move. I ask students question about what they see and whether the new fact makes sense. When they are ready, I’ll ask questions like, “How could we make another addition fact that is true?” Students sitting in the audience become the directors and tell the kids were to go.

The best part of this activity is hearing students make connections. They begin to notice the connection between the addends. Eventually someone points out that the largest number is always on the outside. Allowing students to talk and make observations during this activity leads to deeper learning. There is a huge difference between telling student there is a relationship and letting them discover and observe the relationship.

This video demonstrates how it can be done with cards. I love to have kids come up and hold the cards and move and dance around.

Fact Family Activites

I used my Monster Fact Family which takes the kids through all the facts with 6 triangle flash cards each level.

Fact Families: Add and Subtract within 18

First they cut out their flashcards. Then, they write their fact families.

Sometimes we mix it up and write our fact families on a white board.

After writing two addition facts and two subtraction facts, they studied the facts by covering up a number and trying to remember or figure out what was missing from the family.