Fun Doubles & Doubles + One Activities

I absolutely love teaching math to first graders. There are so many new skills and concepts introduced throughout the year. So much growth takes place, and it is so exciting to watch. I love using hands-on activities and manipulatives every chance I get. This helps to make lessons so much more fun and engaging. Today I want to share some fun doubles and doubles plus one activities with you.

Teaching Doubles and Doubles Plus One

Doubles and doubles plus one is an important strategy used to help students master their basic facts. The concept is pretty simple. You take the smaller number, double it, and then add one to get your answer.

For example, in the problem 3+4 you would add 3 plus 3 and get six. Then add one more and get 7. Learning this skill helps students to be able to understand addition more easily. This will in turn allow them to work with single and double-digit numbers more effectively.

Throughout my years of teaching, I have come up with a solid plan to use this strategy in my classroom. The kids and I always have so much with doubles and doubles plus one using this method.

Start with Vocabulary

As with all lessons, it is important to start with new vocabulary words being introduced. Then, I like to show my students how these vocabulary words are used in the context of the topic being taught. I do this by using Vocabulary Teaching Cards.

If you have taught using any of my units, you are probably already familiar with them. The vocabulary words cards have the word on one side and a picture to represent the word on the other. The image is so important to differentiate for my ELL learners. I create anchor charts with vocabulary cards that can be used as a reference for the entire unit.

Manipulatives and Movements

After we are familiar with vocabulary words, it's time to get our hands busy. I like to take a moment to break out the math blocks to demonstrate what doubles look like visually. This is always super helpful for my kiddos to get a better understanding of the concept.

I give them a few minutes to create doubles facts with the blocks as well. Having these hands-on experiences really helps them to understand the abstract math concepts.

Any time we can get up and move we do! This is where I like to incorporate poems, chants, and songs. Singing and moving helps students to remember their doubles facts much quicker than just using flashcards in isolation.

I have my own poem that I love to use in my Doubles Pack. YouTube also has tons of awesome videos with songs for doubles facts. This Doubles Doubles song by Harry Kindergarten Music is always a favorite.

Crafts, Games, & Review

No lesson is complete without a fun craft! Am I right or what? My Seeing Doubles Craft is perfect for teaching doubles and doubles plus one. Students will create their very own set of eyeglasses. In the eyeballs, they will write doubles equations on one side and sums on the other. This activity helps students to master important vocabulary related to equations. I encourage them to color code the equations and the answers as a way to check their math too!

Not only do my students love creating the doubles craft, but they love seeing their work on display too! I love adding the crafts to a bulletin board or hallway display. When they see them, it always sparks a conversation about the lesson. I am always amazed at just how much a simple craft helps them to remember a skill or concpet.

Just learning about doubles is not enough! In order to keep those skills fresh and improve on fluency, students need to continue to practice those math facts. I love to use activities like "Color by Sum" sheets and match-up sheets for this purpose. These are great ways for students to practice those math facts individually. These practice sheets can easily be used as morning work, math centers and even work for homework practice.

Speaking of reinforcement, games are great for that. This is where my Spin A Pair Activity comes in. I can print this to be used as a consumable, or laminate it to use every year. This makes a great partner or individual game. Students love using a paperclip and their pencil to create a spinner.

Students will spin the spinner two times and write down the numbers on the sheet. Then they will use what they have learned about doubles and doubles plus one to find the sum. They will then color in the sum on the game card. The game continues until all sums are colored in. It's a hit every time we play!

Here's some of the fun games and practice activities we use to practice doubles and doubles plus one.

Show What You Know

Now that we've had some fun, it is time for an assessment. This is an important part to our instructional routine because it provides with valuable information for each student. I can see which students have mastered the concept, which are doing well and which are struggling. I can see misconceptions and misunderstandings so that I can address them in our next lesson. And . . . I can use this information to pull small groups, plan my next lessons, and create activities to challenge my students.

This assessment doesn't have to be anything fancy. I like to use a simple math assessment sheet with a place for students to complete math facts and a place for them to explain strategies. Students can explain strategies using words or pictures. This is such a great opportunity for me to better understand exactly what type of learners my students are. It also helps me to become a better teacher because I can implement strategies to meet all of their needs.

I created a FREE Doubles Fact Sheet Assessment just for you! Click here to grab it!

See this Unit in Action!

If you'd like more information on how I teach doubles and doubles plus one, or if you'd like to see it in action then hop over to Facebook. I did a Facebook live and dove into all these fun teaching ideas and activities.

Everything You Need for Teaching Doubles and Doubles Plus One

Doesn't all of this sound like fun? The great thing is that it is super effective too. You can grab everything you need to teach doubles and doubles plus one in the Emily Education store. This Doubles and Doubles Plus One Activity Bundle contains crafts, worksheets, poems, and activities to keep your students actively engaged while learning.

Save these Doubles and Doubles Plus One Ideas

Be sure to save these tips and ideas for teaching doubles and doubles plus one to your favorite math Pinterest board so you are all set and ready to go with teaching doubles and doubles plus one.