When we need to solve a difficult problem it can be helpful to draw pictures to model the action.

Here is an example.                                                                    

Problem:                                                      

Ronald received 11 spaceship stickers and 5 clown stickers in his goodie bag. How many more spaceship stickers does he have?

Solution:

• Draw 11 small squares representing spaceships.
• Below the first 5 squares draw circles representing the clown stickers.
• Count the number of leftover spaceship stickers.
• Write the number sentence that illustrates the problem.

Click on the spaceship to see a PowerPoint demonstration.

Click the numbers for practice.

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