About

These part-part-whole task cards will help your students build deep, flexible, foundational number sense. Designed using a clear visual bar model structure, this activity prompts students to uncover missing addends & sums and understand the relationship between addition and subtraction for numbers up to 20.

Part-part-whole reasoning is a critical milestone in math development. Part-part-whole reasoning helps students:

• Connect addition and subtraction: When students can visualize parts within a whole, they grasp that addition and subtraction are inverse operations - not two completely different ideas.
• Lay a foundation for algebraic thinking: Missing part models introduce algebraic thinking in an intuitive, non-intimidating visual format (ex. 8 + ? = 11).
• Prevent word problem misconceptions: Visual bar modeling helps students comprehend the context of word problems, preventing the trap of ‘looking for keywords,’ which often leads to calculation and context errors.

Ideas for Use

These task cards are versatile and simple to use in your daily math routine:

• Math Station: Place task cards in dry-erase sleeves or laminate them for a quick, independent math center.
• Small Group Activity: Use with small groups along with concrete manipulatives like linking cubes to provide scaffolding and informally assess students’ understanding.

What's Included?

This resource includes 24 task cards with two options for Recording Sheets.