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Lesson plan Grade 1 Math

Clover Row's Bucket Car Wash: A Grade 1 Word Problem Lesson

A 40-minute grade 1 lesson using a neighborhood bucket car wash to build add-to, take-from, compare, and missing-part word problems within 20.

Objectives

  1. Students will solve add-to and take-from word problems within 20 about buckets of water.
  2. Students will find a missing change amount or a missing part in a bucket problem.
  3. Students will model a compare problem with two rows of counters.

Vocabulary

Key words: bucket, in all, left, how many more, fewer

Teacher overview

Clover Row is a made-up street where neighbors wash cars with filled buckets rather than a running hose, because a hose left running sends far more water down the gutter than a row of buckets does. The class counts buckets through one Saturday morning, which supplies a single setting for every word-problem type first grade needs. The misconception this lesson targets is the habit of picking an operation from a single key word, so that any problem containing "more" gets added and any problem containing "left" gets subtracted. Problem 5 asks how many more and is solved by subtracting, while problem 6 says "more buckets than" and is solved by adding, and the two sit next to each other on purpose so the class has to model the situation rather than hunt for a word.

Procedure

Hook (5 min): Fill one bucket in front of the class and set it beside a picture of a running hose. Ask which one uses less water for one car, then say that the Clover Row neighbors chose buckets and counted every one they filled.

Direct instruction (10 min): Model one problem on chart paper that does not appear on the handout. The crew filled 5 buckets, then filled 4 more, and the class draws two groups of counters and writes 5 plus 4 equals 9. Then change the same story so the ending is known and the change is missing, and show how the drawing changes while the story stays the same.

Guided practice (12 min): Pairs work handout questions 1 through 4 with counters. Each partner reads one problem aloud, both build it with cups, and then they write the equation. Circulate and ask pairs which number in their drawing was the unknown one.

Independent practice (8 min): Students finish questions 5 through 7 alone. Watch for students who add on question 5 because they saw the word "more," and send them back to build both teams with two rows of counters.

Closure / exit ticket (5 min): Students answer question 8 on a half sheet and hand it in. Count the correct responses at the door; if fewer than three quarters of the class is correct, open the next math block by rebuilding question 8 with counters.

Clover Row's Bucket Car Wash: A Grade 1 Word Problem Lesson — Grade 1 Math
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Handout

Use cups or counters. Draw your work. Then write the number sentence.

  1. The Clover Row crew filled 8 buckets in the morning. They filled 6 more buckets after lunch. How many buckets in all?
  2. There were 15 buckets by the curb. The crew used 9 of them. How many buckets are left?
  3. The crew filled 7 buckets. Then they filled some more buckets. Now there are 13 buckets. How many buckets did they fill after that?
  4. There were 16 buckets. The crew used some of them. Now 8 buckets are left. How many buckets did the crew use?
  5. Team Blue washed 9 cars. Team Green washed 5 cars. How many more cars did Team Blue wash than Team Green?
  6. Nora filled 6 buckets. Sam filled 3 more buckets than Nora filled. How many buckets did Sam fill?
  7. Two friends filled 14 buckets together. Ana filled 8 of them. How many buckets did Rob fill?
  8. The crew filled 11 buckets. They used 4 buckets. How many buckets are left?

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key
  1. Answer: 14 buckets. 8 plus 6 equals 14, an add-to problem with the result unknown.
  2. Answer: 6 buckets. 15 minus 9 equals 6, a take-from problem with the result unknown.
  3. Answer: 6 buckets. 7 plus 6 equals 13, so the change is 6. Students may also count on from 7 up to 13.
  4. Answer: 8 buckets. 16 minus 8 equals 8, so the crew used 8 buckets.
  5. Answer: 4 cars. 9 minus 5 equals 4. This is a compare problem, so it subtracts even though it asks how many more.
  6. Answer: 9 buckets. 6 plus 3 equals 9. Sam's count is 3 above Nora's count.
  7. Answer: 6 buckets. 8 plus 6 equals 14, so Rob filled 6 of the 14 buckets.
  8. Answer: 7 buckets. 11 minus 4 equals 7.

Differentiation

Support

Give these students a pre-drawn ten frame plus five extra circles so every count within 20 has a place to sit, and read each problem aloud twice before they build it. Let them stop after question 5 rather than finishing the set.

Extension

Ask these students to write a ninth bucket problem in which the starting number is the unknown, then trade with a partner and solve. Require the author to write the equation with a box for the unknown before the trade.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "in all," "left," "how many more," and "more than" with a matching motion for each, and keep the four phrases posted with a small drawing beside them. Provide the answer frame "There are ___ buckets" and allow students to show questions 5 and 6 with two rows of counters instead of writing.

Extensions

Have the class count the cups of water it takes to wash a bicycle wheel or a set of paintbrushes at the classroom sink, then write a bucket problem from the real count and solve it as a group.