Addition with Regrouping: Lesson Plans and Teaching Strategies

Lesson Plans for Teaching Children Regrouping

Getting Your Class Started

Regrouping is sometimes referred to as carrying numbers. Before introducing regrouping concepts to your students, it can be important to get them mentally prepared. Your students at this point should have already mastered adding single digits and are likely to have many basic math facts memorized. Review these math facts thoroughly before beginning.

When teaching regrouping, it's usually best to concentrate on two-digit numbers before moving on to three-digit numbers. Line up two numbers, such as 26 and 56, and stack them vertically on the whiteboard. Add the sixes first, carry the one and finish the equation. Demonstrate several different number combinations in this manner before asking questions of the class as you work through two-digit addition problems.

Using Manipulatives to Teach Regrouping

It can be difficult for children to understand the abstract concept of regrouping, so many lessons on addition with regrouping use manipulatives to teach it in a concrete way. Manipulatives are any physical objects that students can use to represent addition. You can use the virtual manipulatives at websites such as the one provided by National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. Everyday objects, like dried beans or pasta, can be used as manipulatives in your classroom.

Here's an addition with regrouping lesson that could help your students: Draw two columns on a large sheet of construction paper. Label the left column '10s' and the right column '1s.' Then, set up your manipulatives by placing 10 dried beans into mini paper cups. Each paper cup represents 10.

Set up your math problem on the construction paper. As an example, let's use the problem 22 + 19. To represent 22 with manipulatives, use two cups and two beans. If you want to represent 19, use one cup and nine beans. Children can solve the problem by counting 10 beans from the '1s' column and placing them in a cup. Those beans go into the '10s' column. Now there are four cups and one bean, so the answer is 41.

Resources for Lesson Plans

Whether you want to create your own addition lessons or use lesson plans that are already available, the Internet is a solid resource. You can find numerous regrouping lessons or lesson plan templates that you can use. Most lesson plans follow a similar format, which includes activities as well as review. Be sure to include an assessment so you can monitor your students' progress.