Friendly Numbers for 10

We have been doing a lot of single digit addition in math class.  The students have been practicing their addition math facts with sums up to 18 through math games, calendar math activities, number talks, etc.  One of the strategies we have been applying to help us to solve larger multi-step addition questions (e.g. 3+7+1+6) or  addition questions with sums that are over 10 (e.g. 9+6) is to look for the 'Friendly Numbers for 10' in addition questions.  These are the number pairs that add up to 10 (9 & 1, 2 & 8, 3 & 7, 4 & 6, 5 & 5).  Learning to identify 'Friendly Numbers for 10' in math equations can help us to solve larger multi-step addition questions (e.g. 3+7+1+6) or  addition questions with sums that are over 10 (e.g. 9+6).  Each day we do activities that reinforce the 'Friendly Numbers' concept. Here is an example of a question we did together:  3+7+1+6  

There is 1 friendly number set in this equation (3+7) so we rewrote the equation as 10+1+6.  The students were able to tell me that 1+6 is 7 so we rewrote the equation a second time as 10+7 and very quickly they were able to figure out that the sum of that equation is 17.  We invite you to practice this strategy at home with your child!