Our class puppet is working out 9 + 2. Watch what the puppet does: it starts all the way back at 1 and counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
Was there a quicker way? What would you tell the puppet to do so it does not have to count so far?
Act out the puppet counting all the way from 1 in a slow, tiring voice so the long way feels like hard work. Take two or three hands-up answers, not open call-outs. Listen for a pupil who says start on the 9 — that is the seed for the whole lesson.
Here is our first jump. We stand on 9, the bigger number, and make two little jumps forward — one to 10, then one to 11. We land on 11. We did not count all the way from 1, we just added two small jumps.
Now we stand on 7 and make just one little jump forward to land on 8. Before I show you: predict where the marker will land. One jump from 7 — where do we go?
This one is different. We stand on 12 and add zero. Adding zero means nothing joins the number, so the marker makes no jump at all. It stays on 12. Watch how still it stays!
Last one — and this is a quick prediction, not a full walk-through. We stand on 17 and want to add two. Before I reveal it: where will the marker land after two little jumps? Say it in your head, then we check together. Notice we started on the bigger number every single time.
Walk the examples one at a time.
We will work through four sums together, one at a time on the number line, and I will call a different pupil up to the board for each one. While one pupil plots, everyone else follows along and counts each little jump aloud together.
First up is 8 + 1 — which number do we stand on, and how many jumps? When that one is done, we will look at 6 + 2, then 10 + 0, and last of all 15 + 2. Watch closely when we reach 10 + 0 — that one is the surprise!
This round is for talking it through together — pupils take turns at the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud.
Call each sum in turn (8 + 1, 6 + 2, 10 + 0, 15 + 2) and send a different pupil to the board to plot the jumps. Have the whole class count each jump aloud as it draws. On 10 + 0, ask the class to predict first — many will expect a jump; let them see there is none. Rotate four pupils so more than one pair of hands touches the board.
In your maths copy, write 9 + 2 = 11. Say it aloud as you write: nine plus two equals eleven. Form the + sign and the = sign carefully.
Walk the room and glance for careful sign formation — no individual marking, this is whole-class copybook practice, not assessment.
We plot these on the board one at a time, and a different pupil comes up for each while the class counts every little jump aloud together: 8 + 1, then 11 + 2, then 15 + 0, then 17 + 2. Start on the bigger number, count your little jumps, and use the Check button to see the tick. The 15 + 0 one will try to trick you — remember what adding zero does!
This round is the practice bank — pupils take turns at the board, check each answer, and the class confirms before moving on. Keep the board work brisk rather than over-explaining.
The zero challenge (15 + 0) is the pause where the lesson pays off: ask the class to predict the landing before the pupil plots it, then let the Check tick confirm that nothing moved. On the +1 and +2 challenges keep asking which number did you start on, and why the bigger one?
You're previewing this lesson. Get full access to this lesson and hundreds more — each one ready to teach, with interactive activities, printable resources and pupil progress tracking built in.