Addition Snake Game

Addition Snake Game
	Math - Memory Work
Level	Primary
Age	5+
Materials	Snake Game Set; counting pointer

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This activity teaches the child that when we add up smaller numbers we recombine them into groups of 10. This helps prepare the child to do Multiplication With Bead Bars.
I've put in instructions for the traditional version of the lesson first, but I think it works far better when done with math blocks. Pictures for this are show farther down.

Presentations

Take the material to a mat or table. If at a table, a table mat will be needed.
Remove the black and white bead bars from the box and place them randomly on the mat. Then, starting with the 1 bead, arrange them in a bead stair.
Leave the first box open. Open the next box and remove some colored bead bars and place them randomly on the mat. (For the first presentation, use one of each plus an extra 5 bar so the number will come out even.) Then, put the lid back on the middle box and arrange the colored bead bars in a gently curving line.
Begin counting the bead bars from the left and stop when you get to ten.
Leave the counter where it is to hold your place. Get a ten bar from the third box and set it along the top of the bead you have just counted. Count the remaining beads on the bead bar on which you stopped.
Place the appropriate bead bar from the black and white bead stair to hold the place for the remaining beads on the other bead bar.
Place the counted bead bars in the box for the black and white bead bars.
Continue counting tens starting with the black bead bar.
Replace with ten bars as you go.
Continue until all of the bead bars have been replaced with ten bars.
To check your work, take the bead bars out of the box.
Place the tens vertically in a row.
Take one of the bead bars and place it next to the first ten bar.
Count how many more beads are needed to make ten.
Add the complementary bead bar.
Continue matching tens in this way.

Points of Interest

Control of Error

Variations and Extensions

Material

The Addition Snake Game material consists of three boxes of bead bars on a small tray. The first box is black with a white lid and holds the black and white bead stair. The second box is red and holds several of each of the colored bead bars. The third box is gold and holds a number of ten bars.

This lesson works much better with fused beads rather than beads that are strung on wire. This makes it much easier to see what bead bars are equivalent without the wire ends getting in the way.

Mortensen Blocks

Another alternative is to do the activity with Mortensen Math blocks rather than with the traditional bead bars. Doing this makes it very easy to see that the line of bead bars is equivalent to the tens.