Friday, Apr 19th 2024

Longevity Publishing Blog

NUMBER IN THE MIDDLE teaches the addition facts: 2+4, 3+5, 4+6, 5+7, 6+8, 7+9, and 4+2, 5+3, 6+4, 7+5, 8+6, and 9+7. 


Students must first know the Doubles addition facts: 3+3, 4+4, 5+5, 6+6, 7+7, 8+8.


Be sure to use counters to show why these facts work with Number in the Middle!


Only one number fits in the middle between the numerals in these facts.  (Students need to be able to tell which number comes between, or in the middle.)

 2+4         3+5         4+6       5+7         6+8        7+9

2 3 4      3 4 5       4 5 6      5 6 7      6 7 8      7 8 9  


If your student knows 3+3, then teach 2+4 and 4+2. 

Ask, what comes between the numbers: 2 ____ 4,   and 4____2.

Why? Show the math fact with counters. Take one off the 4 and put it on the 2. There are two groups of 3, and 3+3=6.  What number fits between 2 and 6, or between 4 and 2? Double it.



If your student knows 5+5, then teach 6+4 and 4+6. 

Ask, what comes between the numbers: 4 ____ 6,   and 6____4.

Why? Show the math fact with counters. Take one off the 6 and put it on the 4. There are two groups of 5, and 5+5=10.

What number fits between 4 and 6, or between 6 and 4? Double it.


If your student knows 6+6, then teach 5+7 and 7+5. What number fits between 5 and 7, or between 7 and 5?  Double it. 


If your student knows 8+8, then teach 9+7 and 7+9. What number fits between 7 and 9, or between 9 and 7?  Double it.   (7+9 and 9+7 are also introduced with different strategy called Magic 9. See earlier blogpost.)


If your student knows 4+4, then teach 3+5 or 5+3. What number fits between 3 and 5, or between 5 and 3?  Double it.  





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On April 25, I will be at the Borders store in Longmont, CO from 1-3 pm to talk about and sign my books, Two Plus Two Is Not Five: Easy Methods to Learn Addition and Subtraction and Five Times Five Is Not Ten: Make Multiplication Easy. If you are a parent or teacher, please stop by to learn how you can help children become fluent with addition, subtraction, and multiplication!

Reminder: RSVPs are needed to attend the Focus on Teaching Math Facts workshop at Maestro’s Teaching Tools on April 26 at 11 am. Call 303 447 1600 to reserve your spot!

More information on teaching math facts:
http://twoplustwoisnotfive.blogspot.com/
http://www.squidoo.com/tipstoteachmath
http://www.squidoo.com/tipstoteachmultiplicationfacts
http://www.LongevityPublishing.com

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Have you always wanted to know what you could do to help your child memorize math facts? Once you get started, you and your child will see that it does not take up a lot of time, and it is easy, and even fun to learn math facts. You will learn how to assess what your child knows, keep good records, use practice worksheets, and learn some strategies and tricks to teach new facts.

I will be giving an informal workshop at Maestro’s Teaching Tools on Sunday, April 26 at 11 a.m. The location is in Boulder, CO. Call Maestro’s to reserve your spot! 303.447.1600

www.TwoPlusTwoIsNotFive.com has tips to teach math, and you can print out sample pages from Two Plus Two Is Not Five: Easy Methods to Learn Addition and Subtraction and Five Times Five Is Not Ten: Make Multiplication Easy.

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I cannot say this enough times, before we ask children to learn how to add or subtract, we need to make sure they have an understanding of number sense.

1. Children need to be able to count to at least 20.
2. Children need to be able to recognize the the numerals 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.
3. Children need to be able to count a given number of objects (to at least 20) correctly.
4. Children need to be able to match up the number with those counted. *** represented by a number 3.
5. Using some counters or objects, children need to be able to show what a number means. The number, 6, means six objects.
5. Children need to be able to orally identify a written number. See a 12, and name it as twelve.
6. Children need to be able to write or type the numbers 1-20.

A few years ago, a young teacher told me that her student could show three objects and four objects and count them correctly to get seven, but the child did not know the numerals.  He did not know the number symbol for seven is 7.  
So, please make sure your students have prerequisite skills in place before you ask them to do new tasks.

After these prerequisites, or readiness skills, are in place, then teach what addition means.
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After being printed in Michigan, the third printing of Two Plus Two Is Not Five: Easy Methods to Learn Addition and Subtraction is on a truck on the way to Colorado. The books should arrive some time tomorrow during our record-breaking 70+degree weather! Yay, no snow.

Both Two Plus Two Is Not Five: Easy Methods to Learn Addition and Subtractionand Five Times Five Is Not Ten: Make Multiplication Easy provide record-keeping pages, worksheets to introduce math fact strategies, and lots of practice and review pages. Instructions on how to use the book, answers, and a certificate of mastery are also included. These books are for students of all ages! If you know students who need to memorize math facts, check out the sample pages at our website. https://www.longevitypublishing.com/

Look also for tips to teach math facts, and some thoughts on what testing math facts in a minute really test. You can also find out about purchasing books from the website. There are some slightly scuffed or bent-edge covers of Five Times Five, and we are selling these at a discounted price while the supply lasts.

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When friends suggested joining the Twitter network, I had no idea what I was doing, but after some tweets here and there, I found other people who are as passionate about teaching math as I am, and parents who homeschool their children.

Evelyn Saenz is another educator who has a math site worth visiting. She has lots of creative ideas posted at www.squidoo.com/counting. Look also for what she had to say about my books!

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Met Mark, the owner of Maestro’s Teaching Tools in Boulder. I will be presenting a workshop for parents on March 15 at 11 am. For more information, please look under EVENTS at www.TwoPlusTwoIsNotFive.com.

The workshop will include some strategies to help children remember multiplication, addition, and subtraction facts. I will also cover the important things to check for before asking children to memorize math facts. Some prerequisites for example include:

Can the child count to at least 20 for addition and subtraction?
Is the child able to identify what the numeral is, and what it means? (4 means four items-4 dogs, 4 children, 4 dots)
To add: Can the child show with counters or a drawing on paper that 5+3 means five objects and three objects is a total of eight items?
To subtract: Can the student show the 11-4 means there are eleven items and four are taken away to leave seven?
To multiply: Can the student show that 4×6 means that there are four groups and each group has six items in it for a total of 24?

I will also show parents how they can determine which math facts their child already knows, meaning, answered without having to count to get an answer, and how to set up a routine to teach them new facts and reviewing the known facts periodically.

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I forgot to mention that I have discounted the price on some copies of Five Times Five Is Not Ten: Make Multiplication Easy. Some of the books have bent or scuffed covers from transit and handling, but the inside pages are perfect. So, if you would like a wonderful workbook that teaches children multiplication facts, you can save money by purchasing from my website http://www.twoplustwoisnotfive.com/.
The books are also sold at 100s of educational and school supply stores and Barnes and Noble book stores.

Also at the website, you can read what other people have said about the books, see lots of good tips for teaching math facts, and print out and try sample pages.

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After nine days visiting with the new baby, and really not doing much in the way of getting new information out about teaching math, I am back at work. During my time away, few people emailed me asking for my tips to teach their students, and I am always happy to respond. One teacher requested a new product: transparencies to introduce the fact strategies. A very good idea! 

I recently emailed people who bought Two Plus Two Is Not Five or Five Times Five Is Not Ten to ask for feedback. I hope that teachers and parents who have used the book with their students will let me know how it is working out. Occasionally I get Google Alerts from others using my book-they have posted positive comments in their blogs or feature my book on their website. Even though I know the workbook pages and strategies are effective, it’s always refreshing to hear it from total strangers too!
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An educational store called to ask about more copies of my books. She said a customer had just come in to buy the multiplication book because it worked so well for her granddaughter. The woman got on the phone and told me about the child’s progress and improvement on timed math tests, all because she had learned some tricks in the addition and subtraction book. Learning the math facts is what gives children the confidence and ability to do well in math!

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Testimonials

Longevity Publishing
This is such a great series. My special needs child used both the Addition/Subtraction and the Multiplication/Division books and mastered the skills by doing one lesson each a day. The lessons are relatively easy and progress the student very slowly and systematically. There was almost no frustration. We tried a lot of approaches, and this was the absolute best.
02/07/2022
Longevity Publishing Crane

Longevity Publishing

Longevity Publishing's books are perfect for differentiation. Lessons can be easily individualized for different learning abilities.

Parents, teachers, special education and math resource teachers, and homeschool educators will see that the clean design will appeal to both younger and older students.

If you are interested in any of our books for your school, catalog, retail or online store, please email Longevity Publishing for information: Info@LongevityPublishing.com.

Bookstores: Partners Book Distributing distributes our books too.

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