Ok...time to report in! I've only had time to try one idea, but it worked well!! I managed to find two little kid pictures (compliments of an old High Five magazine),. laminated them and labeled one with a minus on his shirt (Mike-y Minus) and the the other with a plus on her shirt (Annie Adder). We used those as "jumpers" for our number line. Mikey can only jump DOWN the chart and Annie can only jump UP. We warmed up with some random problems (If Annie is standing on four and adds one...) Next, we did the specific equations of the day (___+1 = 13 and 13 - 1 = ___) -- Beautiful! Worked perfectly and was visual confirmation of the right number. We also used Annie to confirm our place value equation 10 + 3 = 13! Yay! Simple and effective...I love it! We'll have to try the other ideas soon too! Thanks again, ladies!
HOW CUTE!!! Where did you come up with the names, or did you read it somewhere? Either way, I like it!!!
