Shake And Spill: A New Twist On A Classic Activity
Here’s a fun and engaging way to help your students master decomposing numbers. Look no further than the game of Shake and Spill!
Shake and Spill: The Classic
Shake and Spill is a game that will excite your students to learn about decomposition. To play, you only need a cup filled with two different colored counters and a table to spill them on. Shake the cup and spill out the counters onto the table, and then count how many of each color there are.
This activity will challenge your students to find as many ways to decompose the total number of counters as possible. They can record their findings as an equation or number sentence.
There are three ways to record their number sentence:
1) part + part = whole
2) whole = part + part
3) part and part make a whole
Not only is Shake and Spill a fun game, but it’s also a powerful learning tool. By playing this game, your students will understand how to break numbers into smaller parts and combine numbers to make the original number.
This game is easily adaptable to different age groups and skill levels. Younger students might focus on decomposing numbers up to 10, while older students could tackle more complex numbers.
Shake and Spill: Number Bond
In addition to the version where students count the number of each color counter and record it as an equation or number sentence, there’s also a version where students use a number bond to show how they decompose the number.
In this version, students draw a number bond with the total number of counters in the center and the two colors on either side. They then fill in the bond to show how many of each color counter and the total.
For example, if there are 8 total counters, 5 red, and 3 blue, students could draw a number bond with 8 in the center, 5 on one side, and 3 on the other. Then, they complete the number sentence.
This version of Shake and Spill is a great way to help students visualize the concept of decomposition and see how the parts fit together to make the whole. It’s also a great way to introduce the concept of number bonds, which can be a powerful tool for understanding addition and subtraction.
Give it a Try
Grab Shake and Spill or Shake and Spill Number Bond.
Your students will LOVE the challenge of finding multiple ways to decompose numbers, and you’ll love how quickly they develop a deep understanding of this critical concept.
Grab Shake and Spill: The Bundle Here.
Happy teaching,
Tee
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