Intervention Resources

Scroll below for intervention resources and activities to support each building block.

Subitizing to 5

Conceptually subitizing to 10

Anchor Facts - One/Two More/Less

Anchor facts - Ways to make 5

Anchor facts - Ways to make 10

Conceptually subitizing to 20

Anchor facts - Doubles

Fact strategies - Using anchor facts to solve harder facts

Subtraction - Math Stories

Count and Write to 120

Adding groups of 10

Adding tens and ones

Anchor 1

Subitizing to 5

Subitizing Sort - Students should sort the subitizing cards on a mat labeled with the numbers 1-5. As students repeat this activity encourage them to place the cards without counting each item, but rather by just looking and knowing the amount. A way to encourage them to work quickly is to time them and compare times to see how much faster they get. Savvy Subitizing cards from Build Math Minds

Go Fish - Play Go Fish with the subitizing cards

One Push - Roll a six sided die. Students should push that number of beads on a number rack with just one push rather than counting the beads one at a time. Be sure to allow students to make observations about what they notice about a number rack before you begin the activity or share what they already know about number racks.

Snap It! - Create tens sticks using 5 linking cubes of one color and 5 of another color. Ask students what they notice about it. Roll a six sided die. Students should snap off the correct number of cubes off of the tens stick and hold it above their head. The student who does it the fastest earns a tally mark. Encourage students not to count the cubes but to look and know the amount.

Domino Sort - Have students sort dominos with 6 pips or less on to the sorting mat

TPT subitizing worksheets - These are some great subitizing worksheets I found on TPT

Conceptually Subitizing to 10

Subitizing Sort - Students should sort the subitizing cards on a mat labeled with the numbers 6-10. Students should use 5 and 10 as benchmarks to help them quickly recognize quantities. Encourage them to explain how they know the quantities (ex - 6 is 5 and 1 more or 9 is one less than 10). As students repeat this activity encourage them to place the cards without counting each item, but rather by just looking and knowing the amount. A way to encourage them to work quickly is to time them and compare times to see how much faster they get. Savvy Subitizing cards from Build Math Minds

Go Fish - Play Go Fish with the subitizing cards 6-10.

One Push - Roll a ten sided die. Students should push that number of beads on a number rack with just one push rather than counting the beads one at a time. Encourage them to explain how they know the quantities (ex - 6 is 5 and 1 more or 9 is one less than 10). Be sure to allow students to make observations about what they notice about a number rack before you begin the activity or share what they already know about number racks.

Snap It! - Create tens sticks using 5 linking cubes of one color and 5 of another color. Ask students what they notice about it. Roll a ten sided die. Students should snap off the correct number of cubes off of the tens stick and hold it above their head. The student who does it the fastest earns a tally mark. Encourage students not to count the cubes but to look and know the amount. The fastest student can explain to the other students their strategy for doing it so quickly and the other students can practice the strategy before the next round.

Domino Sort - Have students sort dominos with 10 pips or less on to the sorting mat

TPT subitizing worksheets - These are some great subitizing worksheets I found on TPT

Conceptually Subitizing to 20

Teen number sort - Students should sort 20 frame and/or teen numbers base ten cards on to a sorting mat. Encourage students to recognize the parts of the quantity (group of ten, groups of five) and combine them rather than counting all the dots or cubes. Time them to see how quick they can get at subitizing teen numbers.

Teen numbers Bingo - Use 20 frame and/or base ten flashcards. Have students create their own Bingo board with a teen number in each space. Encourage students to recognize the parts of the quantity (group of ten, groups of five) and combine them rather than counting all the dots or cubes.

Ten and Some More Bump

Anchor Facts - One/Two More/Less

Domino War - Play domino war with all of the dominos that have 0, 1, or 2 pips on one of their sides.

Math Flips - use Berkeley Everetts "Subitizing Plus-Minus 1 cards"

Bears Race to 10

Anchor Facts - Ways to Make Five

Ways to make 5 productive struggle activity - Students complete an activity using math cubes and a sorting mat to discover all the ways to make 5

Card Sandwiches - (adapted from Build Math Minds website) - Using Savvy Subitizing cards, (only cards 0-5) pick one of the models, students practice stacking cards in pairs that make 5. Gradually add more models. Time students to see how fast they can make all the stacks of 5.

Trouble - Play the board game Trouble - it is great for decomposing 5

Make 5 Cube Trains - Give students math cubes of two different colors. They should make trains showing all the ways to make 5.

Anchor Facts - Ways to Make Ten

Ways to make 10 productive struggle activity - Students complete an activity using math cubes and a sorting mat to discover all the ways to make 10

Card Sandwiches - (adapted from Build Math Minds website) - Using Savvy Subitizing cards, pick one of the models, students practice stacking cards in pairs that make 10. Gradually add more models. Time students to see how fast they can make all the stacks of 10.

Make 10 Cube Trains - Give students math cubes of two different colors. They should make trains showing all the ways to make 10.

How many beads are hiding? - This activity uses the top row only of a number rack with a piece of cardstock covering all of the beads in starting position. It starts with a song that the student say with you. "Ten little beads were hiding and some came out to play." Then you push a certain number of beads out from behind the cardstock. Ask the students how many beads came out to play and ask them to justify their answer. Then ask them how many beads are still hiding. Again, ask them to explain how they know their answer is correct.

Anchor Facts - Doubles

Bump - This is my favorite game for building fluency. It gives students repeated practice with a specific group of facts, using a well paired math tool. They love the dynamics of the game so they naturally want to get more efficient with the facts in order for the game to move more quickly. It also provide lots of opportunity for the supervising adult to ask students to explain their thinking and encourage more efficient strategies. The original game is from Build Math Minds, but I created versions for each group of facts I want my students to focus on. For the doubles version of this game have students use a number rack to push the doubles fact. They will begin to create mental images to assist them in remembering the facts. They will also start to make connections between the related doubles facts such as counting by 2's and using 5 + 5 as an anchor fact to solve other doubles facts.

Fact Strategies - Using anchor facts to solve harder facts

-Tracking Progress with Fact Fluency (including flexibility)

I use this fact tracking sheet to give students the opportunity to track their own progress with fact fluency and flexibility. They get very excited and invested in conquering all of the facts. As they master a group of facts we highlight that row/column. They love seeing how many facts they are mastering.

-Doubles plus 1/Neighbor Number/Near Doubles

Math Flips - use Berkeley Everetts "Doubles and Near Doubles" cards

Bump - This is my favorite game for building fluency. It gives students repeated practice with a specific group of facts, using a well paired math tool. They love the dynamics of the game so they naturally want to get more efficient with the facts in order for the game to move more quickly. It also provide lots of opportunity for the supervising adult to ask students to explain their thinking and encourage more efficient strategies. The original game is from Build Math Minds, but I created versions for each group of facts I want my students to focus on. Play the Neighbor Number version of this game. Students may use a number rack to push each facts. They will begin to notice that each neighbor number facts is made of a double fact they already know plus one more.

-Make 10 to add (+9, +8, +7)

Math Flips - use Berkeley Everetts "Make 10 with 2 addends version 2" cards

Bump - This is my favorite game for building fluency. It gives students repeated practice with a specific group of facts, using a well paired math tool. They love the dynamics of the game so they naturally want to get more efficient with the facts in order for the game to move more quickly. It also provide lots of opportunity for the supervising adult to ask students to explain their thinking and encourage more efficient strategies. The original game is from Build Math Minds, but I created versions for each group of facts I want my students to focus on. Play the +9, +8 and +7 versions of this game. Students should use a ten frame with two different colored counters to model the facts. They will use the know facts 9+1=10, 8+2=10, and 7+3=10 respectfully to help them solve harder facts.

Subtraction - Math Stories

Roll and Tell - For students that struggle to conceptualize subtraction I play a game that requires them to tell subtraction math stories after first telling an addition math story. They roll two number dice and one die that has nouns written on it that can be used to tell a math story (frogs, hats, cats...). They tell and solve an addition math story using the two numbers. (There were 4 frogs swimming in the pond and 6 frogs sitting on the shore. How many frogs are there altogether?) Then I tell a related subtraction math story for them to solve. (There were ten frogs sitting on the shore. Four of them jumped into the water. How many frogs are still on the shore?) I slowly turn the telling of the subtraction story over to the student. You can also slowly make the subtraction math story less closely related to the addition story so students begin to see how the related addition fact is helping them solve the subtraction fact even if the story is about a different item.

Count and Write to 120

Counting Collections - I do this activity whole group, but I also repeat it as a great intervention for students that need multiple exposures to fully grasp the concepts. Sometimes as adults we jump very quickly from numbers to 10 or 20 straight to 100 or more without giving students the opportunity to grapple with larger numbers in concrete and conceptual ways. I give students a bag with a set of items inside (ex. pennies, rocks, buttons...) up to 100. I also give them tools to organize their collection of items (egg cartons, cups, ten frames...). Their job is to prove to me how many items are in their collection without counting them by ones. They also have to draw a picture or write an equation to show how they organized their items.

Beaded Numberline - I also do this activity whole group, but if you do not complete it whole group, then it would be a great intervention activity. Student create a beaded numberline using a shoe string and groups of 10 eads in different colors. Use a random number generator and have students practice pushing that number of beads on their beaded number line. They can also practice counting the beaded numberline by 10s, 5s, and 1s.

Place Value Bingo - The bingo board for this game is a 100 chart. On each turn students flip over a card with a picture of base ten blocks on it and say the quantity outloud. You may ask them, "How do you know that is the amount?" They circle that number in their chosen color. The first to get 3 in a row circled in their color is the winner.

Adding groups of ten

Race to 120 - Using a 120 chart as the playing mat, students roll one die on each turn (custom made from wooden craft cubes) and move their game marker that amount on the 120 chart. The first student to 120 wins. Students should not move their game marker by ones but use strategies to move their marker. (Possible sides on the dice can include +1, +2, +5, +10, +12, +12, +20, +30. I start off with dice with the simpler number and then start to use more complex dice. You can also try subtraction as well like -10, -20... Just don't go into negative numbers.)

Collective Counting Collections - Have students each take part of one of the counting collections. They each organize their part and prove their answer. Then the challenge is for the students to work together to write an equation and find the total number of items. This is a great way for students to practice adding tens with tens and ones with ones. It is also a good opportunity to begin developing strategies like making the next ten (ex. 49+ 37) and using friendly numbers (ex 26 + 24). I always keep a few extra items back from each set so I can adjust the students amounts as they count, to push them toward the strategy I want them to uncover.

Place Value Bingo - You can add a die to Place Value Bingo so that students add the amount they roll to the card they flip before circling their number (ex. +10, +20...).