Back to Back Metre Sticks

Ever heard of learning money with metre sticks!?

This elegant but simple activity will help develop recall of the number pairs that add to make 100 and so help with finding change from £1.

30 + 70 , 20 + 80 etc are easy because they are simply an extension of the tens facts 3 + 7 and 2 + 8 etc.

But 35 + 65 is not so easy. (Children will often think it should be 35 + 75 because 3 + 7 = 10.)

But if you put two metre sticks back to back, magic happens!

Ages 6-8    Printable materials (pdf) - 2 pages of teacher's notes and two alternative copymasters.

A straightforward, clear representation. Children were intrigued about using a metre stick to learn about money! Most of the children in the class were able to calculate change in 10ps in the first lesson!
Year 1 Teacher, Woodnewton School