Assorted Tips and Tricks

Number rhymes

You can use the following rhymes to help learners remember how to write numbers.

1. Make a straight line down. One is fun.
2. Around and down, and back on track: two, two.
3. Around the tree, and around the tree; then we have three.
4. Down and across, then stand him on his leg last.
5. Make a neck, then a belly, put his hat on last.
6. Around the curve and make a loop. You have a six.
7. Across the sky and down from heaven. That makes a seven.
8. Make an s, don’t you wait; up to the top and you have an eight.
9. Make a balloon, put it on a stick for a nine.

Stoplight

Ones column is green (go), tens are yellow, hundreds are red (stop).
Start with the green number and go to the red.

Triple B rule

Big number on the Bottom means Borrow

Subtraction rhymes

More on top? No need to stop.
More on the floor? Go next door. Get 10 more.
Number’s the same? Zero’s the game.

No carrying required

This is for students who hate carrying when doing addition problems.
Add each column separately, starting from the left. Then add the totals together.

   35
+ 24

1. Add the tens first: 30 + 20 = 50
2. Add the ones: 5 + 4 = 9
3. Add the totals: 50 + 9 = 59