Addition Lesson Plan for 1st Grade

Learning objective

• Add two groups of pictured objects with sums up to 10
• Write an addition sentence to match a picture model
• Connect visual representations to addition equations within 10

Materials

• Addition maze (sums to 20) -Teddy Bear
• Addition sentences (10 circles) - Groundhog
• Adding 3 numbers - Nest
• Vertical addition with objects
• Addition sentences
• Adding with number lines
• Pencils, and whiteboard space for the modeled examples

Lesson steps

1. 1. Warm up together (5 min)

   Open with a quick count-around or number talk that touches addition. Ask students where they have seen addition outside of math class. You are listening for who already has the vocabulary and who does not, so keep it light and let several students answer.

2. 2. Model it (I do) (10 min)

   Work two examples of addition on the board, thinking out loud the whole way. Say the quiet parts: what you notice first, which step you do next, and why. Deliberately make one small error on the second example and let the class catch it.

3. 3. Practice together (we do) (10 min)

   Work three more problems as a class. Ask a different student to supply each step rather than the whole answer. If a step stalls, drop back to concrete objects or a drawing before moving on.

4. 4. Independent practice (you do) (15 min)

   Hand out "Addition maze (sums to 20) -Teddy Bear". Students work independently while you circulate. Note who is fluent, who is counting on fingers, and who has not started, because that grouping drives tomorrow's small group.

5. 5. Close the loop (5 min)

   Pull the class back. Ask one student to explain a problem they got right and one to name something that is still confusing. End on the confusion, not the success, so students learn that naming a gap is normal.

Check for understanding

Collect the practice pages and sort them into three piles: fluent, developing, and not yet. Any student in the third pile needs addition retaught in a small group before the class moves on.

Differentiation

Extra support. Students who stall: pull them into a small group and rebuild addition with concrete materials or a simpler text before asking for the written work again. Do not send the page home as homework, it will just rehearse the misunderstanding.

Extension. Students who finish early: ask them to write their own addition problem for a partner to solve, then check the partner's work. Creating a problem is harder than solving one and it surfaces whether they really understand addition.

Skills covered in this lesson

Adding with pictures (sums to 10) · Vertical addition with objects · Addition sentences · Adding with pictures (sums to 20) · Adding with number lines · Addition sentences and number lines · Adding 3 numbers with number lines · Add two numbers - sum 10 or less · Add two 1-digit numbers - sum 20 or less · Number bonds - sums with 8 · Number bonds - sums with 9 · Number bonds - sums with 10