Doubles and Near Doubles in 1/2 Blue

This week 1/2 Blue has been learning about doubles and near doubles. During our Mathematics lessons and rotations, we have completed a range of activities including making ladybird doubles, playing double games, and sorting, answering and creating our own doubles and near doubles. We have also attempted to define these new words and concepts.

What is a double?

 “A double is two of the same numbers added together.” Emily K

 “A double two of the same thing or number.” Esther B

 “A double is two circles, two things.” Willem W

“A double is two of something.” Abigail O

“A double is a number, like 1+1.” Xavier C

“Copy the same number.” Henry B

What is a near double?

“A near double is a double plus one more.” Esther B

“A near double is like 5+6, it is close to a double. If you get 5+5 you know that it is 10 so you add one more. It’s a double plus one.” Ethan C

“Like a double, but nearly a double.” Cosmo

The aim of these strategies is to help students solve addition problems like 5+5, 9+9, 6+7 or 8+9 quickly and efficiently.  Once students are confident with doubles (e.g. 5+5 and 9+9), they can apply this knowledge to solve near doubles problems (e.g. 6+7 and 8+9). A near double problem is two numbers close together. They are either a double plus one or double take one. For example, 6+7 is a near double. Since we know that double 6 is 12, we can simply add 1 more on to make 13.