Joining Parts Together

Overview

This four-lesson sequence introduces addition as joining two parts to find a whole. Children build from concrete materials to visual representations and simple addition stories, with each 15-minute lesson revisiting and extending the previous learning.

Learning intentions

• WALT join two groups to find how many altogether.
• WALT represent addition using objects, pictures and a tens frame.
• WALT say and record an addition story using numerals and the plus and equals signs.
• WALT explain how we know the total.

Success criteria

• I can make two parts.
• I can join the parts and count the whole.
• I can show my thinking with objects, pictures or a tens frame.
• I can say an addition sentence.

Curriculum links

• Mathematics and Statistics — Mathsteasers: building higher-order thinking through playful mathematical problems.
• Mathematics and Statistics — Additional resources for advanced learners: offering appropriate challenge and multiple ways to represent ideas.
• Mathematics and Statistics — Alignment: connecting practical activities with relevant mathematical learning.

Lesson structure (15 minutes)

Lesson 1: Join two groups

1. 0–2 min · Hook. Show the joining-groups picture and ask, “How many toys will there be if these two groups come together?” Children make a quiet prediction.
2. 2–5 min · Model. Place three counting bears in one hoop and two in another, then push the groups together while saying, “Three and two makes five altogether.” Children copy the action with their own bears.
3. 5–11 min · Explore. Give pairs counting bears and two small hoops; call out or show joining stories within 5. Children build both parts, join them and count the whole.
4. 11–13 min · Share. Invite two pairs to show different combinations that make 5. Children explain what happened using “part, part, whole”.
5. 13–15 min · Check. Complete the concrete addition recording sheet together for one example. Children draw or place marks to show 2 and 1 joining.

Lesson 2: Show parts and wholes

1. 0–2 min · Recall. Revisit the joining-parts recap and ask children to demonstrate 4 as two parts using their fingers.
2. 2–5 min · Model. Build 4 with Numicon as 3 and 1, physically joining the pieces. Show the matching part–part–whole picture.
3. 5–11 min · Explore. Pairs use Numicon pieces to make totals from 2 to 6 in different ways. Children say, “___ and ___ makes ___.”
4. 11–13 min · Compare. Ask, “Can we make 5 in another way?” Children show and discuss different pairs of parts.
5. 13–15 min · Record. Use the part-and-whole drawing sheet. Children draw one Numicon combination and tell it to a partner.

Lesson 3: Fill a tens frame

1. 0–2 min · Hook. Open the mystery tens-frame hook showing a partly filled frame and ask, “How many spaces are filled? How many more are needed?”
2. 2–5 min · Model. Place four counters on a tens frame, then add two more. Count all six and say, “Four and two equals six.”
3. 5–11 min · Explore. Pairs use counters and tens frames to make addition stories within 10. One child builds the first part, the other adds the second, and both count the whole.
4. 11–13 min · Discuss. Display two frames showing the same total in different ways. Children identify the two parts and explain that the whole stays the same.
5. 13–15 min · Check. Children complete one example on the tens-frame addition sheet by drawing counters and circling the total.

Lesson 4: Tell and record addition stories

1. 0–2 min · Hook. Show the picnic addition story: two jelly beans are on a plate and three more arrive. Ask, “How many now?”
2. 2–5 min · Model. Act out the story with jelly beans, draw two dots and three dots, then write and read “2 + 3 = 5”. Explain that + means join and = means the total is.
3. 5–10 min · Create. Pairs use counting bears, jelly beans or counters to invent a joining story within 10. They build it, draw it and tell it to another pair.
4. 10–13 min · Share. Select two stories and record their addition sentences. Children identify the parts and whole using the words “first”, “then” and “altogether”.
5. 13–15 min · Exit check. Children complete the addition story exit sheet by drawing a joining story and finishing one addition sentence.

Resources

• Slides-1 to slides-4, one short deck for each lesson
• Worksheet-1 to worksheet-4
• Counting bears
• Small hoops or paper circles
• Numicon pieces
• Two-row tens frames
• Two-colour counters
• Small paper plates
• Jelly beans, or linking cubes if food is unsuitable
• Pencils and crayons

Assessment

• Observe whether children physically join two parts and count the whole without recounting errors.
• Listen for accurate use of “part”, “whole”, “altogether”, “plus” and “equals”.
• Record which children can represent an addition story with objects, a picture and an equation; use the final worksheet to identify next steps.

Differentiation

• Support learners with totals to 5, larger objects, two clearly separated hoops and adult modelling of one-to-one counting.
• Provide sentence starters: “I had ___, then ___ more, so altogether there are ___.”
• Allow children to respond orally or by building rather than writing; use gestures and real objects for children learning English.
• Challenge confident learners to find two different ways to make the same whole, or to explain why changing the order of the parts does not change the total.