This activity gives pupils the opportunity to see a number of additions and subtractions taken consecutively and the overall effect.

Introduce the problem to the children orally - you may like to jot down the information on the board so it can be referred to easily. Without saying anything else, allow the group to talk about the problem and how they might solve it.

Share some of these methods before giving time for pairs to work on a solution together. Encourage them to use whatever they need to and to record how they want.

In a plenary, you could ask some children to talk about what they did and what they notice. At this stage, you may want to introduce the number line as another way to picture what is happening.

What did you do to get your answer?

Why does this way work?

Pupils could suggest similar questions for each other to solve.

It may be appropriate for some children to work with a number line.