First-Grade Cut-and-Paste Practice: Sort Addition Expressions

A cut-and-paste center should make the learning task clear before children reach for scissors. In this original paper activity, students sort addition expressions by their totals. Cutting and gluing are optional ways to record the sort, not the mathematics being assessed.

Prepare the center

Make three column headings: 5, 6, and 7. Write these six expressions on separate cards: 2 + 3, 4 + 1, 3 + 3, 2 + 4, 5 + 2, and 4 + 3. Provide counters or a number line for learners who use them. An adult can cut the cards in advance, or students can point to the matching column without cutting.

Model one card. For 2 + 3, make a group of two counters and a group of three. Count five altogether and place the card under 5. Say what the column means: it groups expressions with the same total, even when the addends are different.

Sort before gluing

Invite the learner to solve one card at a time and place it in a column. Ask “How did you find the total?” Accept counters, a drawing, counting on, or another explanation that shows the quantities. Have the learner check the complete sort before gluing. This makes a change easy when an answer needs revisiting.

Answer key: 5 contains 2 + 3 and 4 + 1. The 6 column contains 3 + 3 and 2 + 4. The 7 column contains 5 + 2 and 4 + 3.

A useful follow-up is “Can you make another card for 6?” Examples include 5 + 1 and 1 + 5. Ask the learner to explain why both fit rather than requiring a particular strategy.

Adjust without changing the goal

Begin with two columns and four cards if the full set is too much. Read expressions aloud if notation is getting in the way. Offer larger cards or a pointing response if cutting is difficult. For a challenge, leave one blank card in each column and ask for a new expression with the correct total.

Connect to an available printable

The Bunny Hop number-line resource is tagged for kindergarten and first grade. It has an Easter theme, so preview it and decide whether that theme suits your setting. Use it as a separate number-line activity; it is not a download of the six-card sort above.

Check what the center showed

Record the mathematical explanation separately from neat cutting or gluing. For example, “found 2 + 4 with counters” is more useful than “finished the page.” End by asking the learner to solve one new expression without copying the existing sort.