Captivate your class by having them find the value of their names, different zoo animals, musical instruments, etc.,with a mental math instructional activity. Using the coding formula listed, children learn to fluently estimate and calculate simple sums.

Concepts

addition, problem solving strategies, mental math, estimating sums

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Additional Tags

math

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Instructional Ideas

• Have students write a secret message to one another using the number codes listed on the resource and then applying addition to calculate the value
• Challenge the class to find which teacher in the school has the name with the greatest value

Classroom Considerations

• Graph paper would make this activity easier and neater to solve the addition equations 
• Project the codes overhead or write them on the board for younger students

Pros

• Engaging in-class assignment
• Differentiated instructions included with the resource
• Designed for Common Core math standards

Cons

• None

Common Core

2.NBT.B.5 3.OA.D.8 3.NBT.A.2 4.OA.A.3 7.EE.B.3