Using Doubles and Near Doubles to Promote Fact Fluency

8/10/2019 Using Doubles and Near Doubles to Promote Fact Fluency

1/16

We continue to work on fact fluency in first grade.

Fact fluency is practiced each day at students'

independent centers. Recently I introduced the

"doubles" and "doubles plus one" strategies to myfirsties. They are so proud to be able to share all of

the doubles they now know!

Introducing Doubles and Near Doubles:At the beginning of the week we we worked through

understanding the Doubles and Doubles-Plus-1 (or

near doubles) strategy with our work mats. Students

saw how knowing and understanding doubles helped

them to solve many more number sentences quickly.

The idea of doubles is that when you have those facts

memorized (1+1, 2+2, 3+3, ect.) you then can add

problems such as 1+2, 2+3, 3+4 by just adding one to

the sum.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Wu62EeewlE/UuL_fTUjgnI/AAAAAAAAC5Y/OSqhPphY6LQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.03.13+PM.pnghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xb--liXrd9g/UqZnk2STrjI/AAAAAAAACwQ/o8b53t2Lftw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-12-09+at+6.58.00+PM.pnghttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Wu62EeewlE/UuL_fTUjgnI/AAAAAAAAC5Y/OSqhPphY6LQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.03.13+PM.pnghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xb--liXrd9g/UqZnk2STrjI/AAAAAAAACwQ/o8b53t2Lftw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-12-09+at+6.58.00+PM.png


2/16

Centers, centers and more centers:After learning about the doubles and near doubles

math strategies students were off to practiceindependently during math centers with their peers. I

wanted my students to be able to explore this math

strategy with hands on activities that helped them

develop this strategy.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tWXvGKhq5Dc/UqZnn-aaRPI/AAAAAAAACwo/7R7ogj4s1ls/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-12-09+at+6.58.13+PM.pnghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DrOyokYcHPs/UuL1AoBp8fI/AAAAAAAAC5I/N_hz0cU6pyo/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+5.18.03+PM.pnghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tWXvGKhq5Dc/UqZnn-aaRPI/AAAAAAAACwo/7R7ogj4s1ls/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-12-09+at+6.58.13+PM.pnghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DrOyokYcHPs/UuL1AoBp8fI/AAAAAAAAC5I/N_hz0cU6pyo/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+5.18.03+PM.png


3/16

Students sorted doubles and near doubles math facts.

Students played Bump with partners to continue practicing doubles

and near doubles math facts.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DxP6aPqycsE/UuMEUsuuQQI/AAAAAAAAC5o/k8VjlY4O8S0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.24.26+PM.pnghttp://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http://dailylearningtothecore.blogspot.com/2014/01/using-doubles-and-near-doubles-to.html&media=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fWuKP2CFm_0/UuMEp0NaA-I/AAAAAAAAC5w/H7djH3Bqsx0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.25.40+PM.png&description=Using%20Doubles%20and%20Near%20Doubles%20to%20Promote%20Fact%20Fluencyhttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fWuKP2CFm_0/UuMEp0NaA-I/AAAAAAAAC5w/H7djH3Bqsx0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.25.40+PM.pnghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DxP6aPqycsE/UuMEUsuuQQI/AAAAAAAAC5o/k8VjlY4O8S0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.24.26+PM.pnghttp://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http://dailylearningtothecore.blogspot.com/2014/01/using-doubles-and-near-doubles-to.html&media=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fWuKP2CFm_0/UuMEp0NaA-I/AAAAAAAAC5w/H7djH3Bqsx0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.25.40+PM.png&description=Using%20Doubles%20and%20Near%20Doubles%20to%20Promote%20Fact%20Fluencyhttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fWuKP2CFm_0/UuMEp0NaA-I/AAAAAAAAC5w/H7djH3Bqsx0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.25.40+PM.pnghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DxP6aPqycsE/UuMEUsuuQQI/AAAAAAAAC5o/k8VjlY4O8S0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.24.26+PM.pnghttp://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http://dailylearningtothecore.blogspot.com/2014/01/using-doubles-and-near-doubles-to.html&media=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fWuKP2CFm_0/UuMEp0NaA-I/AAAAAAAAC5w/H7djH3Bqsx0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.25.40+PM.png&description=Using%20Doubles%20and%20Near%20Doubles%20to%20Promote%20Fact%20Fluencyhttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fWuKP2CFm_0/UuMEp0NaA-I/AAAAAAAAC5w/H7djH3Bqsx0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.25.40+PM.pnghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DxP6aPqycsE/UuMEUsuuQQI/AAAAAAAAC5o/k8VjlY4O8S0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.24.26+PM.png


4/16

Students played "Doubles Dice on Ice!" another math game to

promote fact fluency.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ltHZVAeiNgM/UuMzur12kFI/AAAAAAAAC60/mUFEj4rGXHc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+9.46.38+PM.pnghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0oxgSfjVrtY/UuMzgBlyYJI/AAAAAAAAC6s/oFj3H231Lhs/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+9.37.35+PM.pnghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ltHZVAeiNgM/UuMzur12kFI/AAAAAAAAC60/mUFEj4rGXHc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+9.46.38+PM.pnghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0oxgSfjVrtY/UuMzgBlyYJI/AAAAAAAAC6s/oFj3H231Lhs/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+9.37.35+PM.png


5/16

We used the SmartBoard during centers to match up some "Ladybug

Doubles!"

These games and many more can be found in

myDoubles and Near Doubles Math Centers.I have

both a winter and a spring version. Clickhereor on

the picture below to see more about these gamesand activities.
http://www.maths-games.org/ladybird-doubles.htmlhttp://www.maths-games.org/ladybird-doubles.htmlhttp://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Doubles-and-Near-Doubles-Game-Pack-426321http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Doubles-and-Near-Doubles-Game-Pack-426321http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Doubles-and-Near-Doubles-Game-Pack-426321http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Doubles-and-Near-Doubles-Game-Pack-426321http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Doubles-and-Near-Doubles-Game-Pack-426321http://www.maths-games.org/ladybird-doubles.htmlhttp://www.maths-games.org/ladybird-doubles.htmlhttp://www.maths-games.org/ladybird-doubles.htmlhttp://www.maths-games.org/ladybird-doubles.htmlhttp://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Doubles-and-Near-Doubles-Game-Pack-426321http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Doubles-and-Near-Doubles-Game-Pack-426321http://www.maths-games.org/ladybird-doubles.htmlhttp://www.maths-games.org/ladybird-doubles.html


6/16

Jump Game:Students loved this game! I used butcher paper to

create a large game mat and wrote all of the doubles

sums on it (I even added some tricky ones to

challenge my higher students.) One student was in

charge of reading the doubles fact while two otherstudents "jumped" to the correct sum! Although the

game was called "Jump" I quickly told students they

need to walk and "hop" to the numbers because some

of my little friends were getting a little too excited at

the idea of jumping across the game board! Students

had fun hopping to squares to practice their doubles

facts!
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--NXWOfI2w2A/UqZnk-TpYhI/AAAAAAAACwM/ILcgrTUm6pU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-12-09+at+6.58.23+PM.pnghttp://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Doubles-and-Near-Doubles-Game-Pack-426321http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--NXWOfI2w2A/UqZnk-TpYhI/AAAAAAAACwM/ILcgrTUm6pU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-12-09+at+6.58.23+PM.pnghttp://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Doubles-and-Near-Doubles-Game-Pack-426321


7/16

Freebie:What good would a Saturday be without a freebie? :)

We used these doubles task cards this week to

practice our doubles and near doubles math facts

during transitions. They are great because some ofmy kids still need the visual of counting/seeing the

blocks and others add the doubles facts without the
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YDACBaPIvi4/UqZnl5MnV0I/AAAAAAAACwU/y5d-6G-twsA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-12-09+at+6.58.35+PM.pnghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e1vXATgd2kg/UuMGas9CPsI/AAAAAAAAC6A/dE-lGFEFzlg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.33.17+PM.pnghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-atcqgTIaDvo/UuMFDDSXsbI/AAAAAAAAC54/h5RMQFwgI_o/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.27.31+PM.pnghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YDACBaPIvi4/UqZnl5MnV0I/AAAAAAAACwU/y5d-6G-twsA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-12-09+at+6.58.35+PM.pnghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e1vXATgd2kg/UuMGas9CPsI/AAAAAAAAC6A/dE-lGFEFzlg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.33.17+PM.pnghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-atcqgTIaDvo/UuMFDDSXsbI/AAAAAAAAC54/h5RMQFwgI_o/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.27.31+PM.pnghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YDACBaPIvi4/UqZnl5MnV0I/AAAAAAAACwU/y5d-6G-twsA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-12-09+at+6.58.35+PM.pnghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e1vXATgd2kg/UuMGas9CPsI/AAAAAAAAC6A/dE-lGFEFzlg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.33.17+PM.pnghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-atcqgTIaDvo/UuMFDDSXsbI/AAAAAAAAC54/h5RMQFwgI_o/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+6.27.31+PM.png


8/16

pictures. Click hereor on the picture below to grab

your set!

"How many doubles facts do you know?"This week finished with an informal assessment. I

asked my students question that now seemed simple

to many of them, "How many doubles facts do youknow?" Students were then given about 3 minutes to

write as many doubles facts as they are able. It was

awesome to see the excitement as students filled

their white boards with addition sentences. Many

students also realized as they were adding that their

doubles facts followed a pattern of counting by two'swhich allowed them to reach even higher numbers!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Doubles-and-Doubles-Plus-One-Task-Cards-English-and-Spanish-502877http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Doubles-and-Doubles-Plus-One-Task-Cards-English-and-Spanish-502877http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p91LFVZ_PII/UqZnmPYSvaI/AAAAAAAACwk/g9G58PU2r_4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-12-09+at+6.58.53+PM.pnghttp://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Doubles-and-Doubles-Plus-One-Task-Cards-English-and-Spanish-502877http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p91LFVZ_PII/UqZnmPYSvaI/AAAAAAAACwk/g9G58PU2r_4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-12-09+at+6.58.53+PM.pnghttp://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Doubles-and-Doubles-Plus-One-Task-Cards-English-and-Spanish-502877http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Doubles-and-Doubles-Plus-One-Task-Cards-English-and-Spanish-502877


9/16

Thank youTeaching Blog AddictandDoodlebugs

{First Grade Rocks!}for letting us link up and find so

many other teaching ideas all in one place!
http://www.teachingblogaddict.com/2014/01/freebie-friday-january-24-welcome.htmlhttp://www.teachingblogaddict.com/2014/01/freebie-friday-january-24-welcome.htmlhttp://www.teachingblogaddict.com/2014/01/freebie-friday-january-24-welcome.htmlhttp://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/2014/01/five-for-friday-linky-party-january-24th.htmlhttp://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/2014/01/five-for-friday-linky-party-january-24th.htmlhttp://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/2014/01/five-for-friday-linky-party-january-24th.htmlhttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IPWD_wA7k-s/UuPJdJNhHLI/AAAAAAAAC74/2d-JYysa95g/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-25+at+8.24.11+AM.pnghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YG-LTGZ-erU/UuNBmqU4mII/AAAAAAAAC7o/YDgTk5xKXD4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+10.45.46+PM.pnghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H0uq-Z-Yveo/UuNAcZAGKpI/AAAAAAAAC7g/YIP4SfIDmG4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+10.39.36+PM.pnghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IPWD_wA7k-s/UuPJdJNhHLI/AAAAAAAAC74/2d-JYysa95g/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-25+at+8.24.11+AM.pnghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YG-LTGZ-erU/UuNBmqU4mII/AAAAAAAAC7o/YDgTk5xKXD4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+10.45.46+PM.pnghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H0uq-Z-Yveo/UuNAcZAGKpI/AAAAAAAAC7g/YIP4SfIDmG4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+10.39.36+PM.pnghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IPWD_wA7k-s/UuPJdJNhHLI/AAAAAAAAC74/2d-JYysa95g/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-25+at+8.24.11+AM.pnghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YG-LTGZ-erU/UuNBmqU4mII/AAAAAAAAC7o/YDgTk5xKXD4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+10.45.46+PM.pnghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H0uq-Z-Yveo/UuNAcZAGKpI/AAAAAAAAC7g/YIP4SfIDmG4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-24+at+10.39.36+PM.pnghttp://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/2014/01/five-for-friday-linky-party-january-24th.htmlhttp://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/2014/01/five-for-friday-linky-party-january-24th.htmlhttp://www.teachingblogaddict.com/2014/01/freebie-friday-january-24-welcome.html


10/16

Happy Saturday!

Amanda

Posted byAmanda Zanchelli at8:37 AM

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Labels:common core,doubles,freebie,math centers,technology

5 comments:

1.

BeckyJanuary 25, 2014 at 12:44 PM

Thanks so much for sharing all the fun ways

you taught these strategies. The freebie is
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11/16

fantastic and comes just in time for me to teach

this in our current math unit.

Thanks again!

More enVisionMATH: Addingneardoubles

4 Votes

Thelast post aboutenVisionMATH and how I, as a math person and

dad, go about trying to make sense of what my 6-year old

brings home from first grade seems to have struck a chord among

parents. Thecomments have beenoutstanding and there seems to be a
http://castingoutnines.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/more-envisionmath-adding-near-doubles/http://castingoutnines.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/more-envisionmath-adding-near-doubles/http://castingoutnines.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/more-envisionmath-adding-near-doubles/http://castingoutnines.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/more-envisionmath-adding-near-doubles/http://castingoutnines.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/in-the-trenches-with-envisionmath/http://www.envisionmath.com/http://castingoutnines.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/in-the-trenches-with-envisionmath/#commentshttp://castingoutnines.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/in-the-trenches-with-envisionmath/#commentshttp://www.envisionmath.com/http://castingoutnines.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/in-the-trenches-with-envisionmath/http://castingoutnines.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/more-envisionmath-adding-near-doubles/http://castingoutnines.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/more-envisionmath-adding-near-doubles/


12/16

real need for this kind of conversation. So I have a few more such

posts coming up soon, starting with this one.

The 6-year old brought this home on Monday. Click to enlarge:

Its about adding near doubles, like 3 + 4 or 2 + 3. In case you cant

read the top part or cant enlarge the photo, here are the steps yes,

there are steps, and thats kind of the point of this post for adding

near doubles:

1.

You can use a double to add a near double. It gives: 4 + 5 and

shows four blue balls and five green balls.

2.First double the 4. It shows 4 + 4 = 8, and the four blue balls,

and four of the green balls with the extra green ball sort of falling

to the ground.

3.Then it says: 4 + 5 is 4 + 4 and 1 more. At this point you really

have to look at the worksheet itself, because its hard to put into

words what is going on:
http://castingoutnines.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/near-doubles.png


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And from there, in the fourth frame, one of the girls in the earlier

frame concludes that 4 + 5 must be 9 because 8 and 1 more is 9.

The Guided Practice section has the kids doing four near-double sums.

Clearly, the way the worksheet wants kids to learn how to do this is not

simply to add 2 + 3, but (1) to recognize that 3 is 2 plus 1 more, (2) add

2 + 2, and (3) then add 1 to the result of 2 + 2:

Theres a thing at thebottom asking kids to explain the process and

then a bunchof near-double sums to practice presumably kids are

supposed to use the method described above, but theres nothing

forcing them to do so and some algebra questions with blanks in

the place of variables.

Im not sure exactly how my brain goes about adding neardoubles

whether it just somehow does the addition in ways that are almost
http://castingoutnines.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/near-doubles-closeup-2.pnghttp://castingoutnines.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/near-doubles-closeup.pnghttp://castingoutnines.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/near-doubles-closeup-2.pnghttp://castingoutnines.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/near-doubles-closeup.png


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automatic thanks to 35 years of repetition, or whether there are little

tricks it employs but I am absolutely certain that I dontdo it the

way enVisionMATH is telling kids how to do it. I tried it. When I read

the worksheet, I thought about near-doubles that arent so easy, like

121 and 122. Quick! Add those together. Did you think, 122 is 121 plus

one more; 121 + 121 = 242; 242 and 1 more is 243 ? I didnt not by

a long shot. Ijust added the numbers together. No methods, no tricks;

just old-school addition. There may be some tricks that my brain

invokes to just add the numbers for example, I tend to visualize

the two terms of the sum stacked atop each other in the classic vertical

arrangement for adding, and then visually add the digits but I am

most definitely notgoing through the four-step process on this

worksheet.

In fact, the four-step process complicates matters so much that its

inexplicable why they are even bringing it up. Most kids at this stage

can add 2 + 3 or 5 + 6 in one step. But by introducing this method,

there arefouroperations: comparison (find the larger of the two near-

doubles), subtraction (take 1 from the larger number), addition (add

the two duplicates), and another addition (add 1 to the result).

Technically there is a fifth operation kids have to perform, namely

recognize that the two numbers they are adding are near-doubles in

the first place.

One might argue that doubling a number (in the third step) is easier

than adding it to itself kids just recognize that doubling 5 gives 10,

for instance and subtracting 1 is a very easy special case of


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subtraction in general that nearly everybody at this age can do without

thinking, similarly for adding 1 at the end. That may be so, but it cant

be so much easier that adding in steps 1, 2 and 4 results in a net

reduction in complexity or a net gain in conceptual understanding.

Butwhat about kids who cant add two one-digit numbers together in

one step? There are some of those out there, including probably a few

in my daughters class. This method doesnt help those kids. Again, we

may argue that adding 4 + 5 is considerably harder than the combined

process of comparison, subtracting 1 from 5, doubling 4, then adding

1. But I dont think so. A four-step process is no less cognitively

demanding than a single-step process, even if the four steps are easy.

And besides, life does not throw near-doubles at you to add. How is a

kid going to learn to add 2 + 5, or 2/5 + 7/8, or 123.38 and 99.99 this

way?

If there is some research that suggests that people really do add near

doubles this way, I would love to see it. Otherwise its hard for me to

believe that any more than a tiny fraction of the human population

actually does it this way. Is there going to be some mind-blowingly

cool way to do complicated arithmetic in ones head farther down the

road that uses this idea, like multiplying numbers that are near-squares or something? Perhaps I should be more patient. But for the

time being, I told the 6-year old just to add the numbers together like

she already knows how to do, the old-fashioned way


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Using Doubles and Near Doubles to Promote Fact Fluency

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