Grade by Grade
Strand A: Foundations of Language and Mathematics · Numbers and Counting

Adding and Taking Away Stories

A6.12 A6.11 A5About 20 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can act out a story where more come (adding).
  • I can act out a story where some go away (taking away).
  • I can use fingers, toys, or drawings to find how many now.
  • I can tell my own number story.

Words to know

add
Put more in. The group gets bigger.
take away
Some go away. The group gets smaller.
how many now
How many there are at the end of the story.
left
Still there, after some went away.

Five little frogs

Grown-up: read aloud and act it out with 5 fingers.

5 little speckled frogs sat on a log. 1 frog jumped into the pool. Splash! How many frogs are left on the log?

Put 1 finger down. Count the fingers still up: 4.

Four frogs sit in a row on a mossy log in a pond, with a splash in the water beside the log.
Splash! One frog jumped into the pool. Count the frogs still on the log: 4 are left. AI-generated image
🐸🐸🐸🐸
4 frogs are left on the log.

Stories with numbers

Some stories have more coming. The group gets bigger. That is adding.

Some stories have some going away. The group gets smaller. That is taking away.

We can act out the story with toys, fingers, or a drawing. Then we count how many now.

Worked example

Ducks on the pond (adding)

3 ducks are swimming on the pond. 2 more ducks fly in and land. How many ducks are on the pond now?

  1. Put out 3 toy ducks (or 3 fingers).
  2. Add 2 more ducks.
  3. More came, so there will be more ducks.
  4. Count them all: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

5 ducks now. 3 and 2 more make 5.

🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆
3 ducks, and 2 more fly in.
Worked example

Cookies on a plate (taking away)

There are 5 cookies on a plate. You eat 1. How many cookies are left?

  1. Start with 5 cookies.
  2. Take 1 away. Yum!
  3. Some went away, so there will be fewer.
  4. Count what is left: 1, 2, 3, 4.

4 cookies are left.

Start: 5 cookies.
After you eat 1: 4 cookies are left.
Worked example

Counting on

There are 6 apples in a bag. Grandma puts in 2 more. How many apples now?

  1. We know there are 6. Say 6 in a big voice. No need to count from 1!
  2. Now count on 2 more, one for each new apple: 7, 8.

8 apples.

0123456789102 more
Start at 6. Hop 2 more to 8.

Listen for clues

Story words that tell us more are coming: more, came, joined, got, in all, altogether.

Story words that tell us some are going away: left, ate, flew away, went home, popped, melted.

Grown-up: You can show how grown-ups write these stories, like 3 + 2 = 5 and 5 − 1 = 4 (see Number Facts to 5). In Kindergarten, acting out with materials and talking is the main thing.

Just for fun

Why are frogs always so happy?

They eat whatever bugs them! 🐸

Hands-on activity

Story mat with toys

You need: a sheet of paper or a towel for the "pond", "farm" or "bus", and up to 10 small toys.

  1. The grown-up tells a story: "4 cows are in the barn. 2 more come in from the field." You move the toys and say how many now.
  2. Try a take-away story: "6 kids are on the bus. 2 get off at the first stop."
  3. Now you tell a story, and the grown-up acts it out. Did they get it right?
  4. At snack time: "You have 5 crackers. Eat 2. How many left?"

Math talk: "Will there be more or fewer at the end? How do you know?"

Your turn

1

2 cats are playing. 1 more cat comes. How many cats now?

2

4 birds are on a fence. 1 flies away. How many are left?

3

5 frogs sit on a log. 2 jump in the pond. How many are left on the log?

4

3 red balloons. Dad blows up 3 more. How many balloons now?

🎈🎈🎈 🎈🎈🎈

5

You have 6 crackers. You eat 2. How many are left?

6

4 snowmen in the yard. The sun melts 1. Will there be more or fewer? How many now?

7

Tell your own story about 2 dogs and 1 more dog.

More practice: warm-up

1

1 fish is in the bowl. 1 more fish goes in. How many fish now?

2

2 kids are on the slide. 1 more kid comes. How many kids now?

3

3 cupcakes. You eat 1. How many are left?

4

4 apples. Mom eats 1. How many are left?

🍎🍎🍎🍎

5

2 friends are playing. 2 more come. How many friends now?

More practice: on your own

1

5 cars are in the parking lot. 3 more drive in. How many cars now?

2

7 birds are at the feeder. 2 fly away. How many are left?

🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦

3

4 kids are skating. 4 more kids come. How many kids are skating now?

4

10 bowling pins. 3 fall down. How many are still standing?

5

6 hockey players are on the ice. 1 more player jumps on. How many now?

Challenge

1

Some bears were in a cave. 2 more bears came. Now there are 5. How many bears were there at first?

2

There were 8 cookies. Some got eaten. Now there are 6. How many were eaten?

3

4 ducks are on a pond. 3 more come. Then 2 fly away. How many ducks now?

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

2 frogs are on a log. 2 more hop on. How many frogs now?

2.

5 balloons. 1 pops! How many are left?

3.

When some go away, the group gets …

4.

6 apples. You eat 2. How many are left?

🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Kindergarten children solve adding and taking-away problems by acting them out with objects, fingers, and drawings. They do not need to write number sentences yet. The goal is understanding what is happening in the story: are there more, or fewer, at the end?

Common difficulties:

  • Counting the whole story from 1 every time. That's normal. Later, encourage counting on: "You know there are 6. Keep going from 6."
  • Mixing up adding and taking away. Ask: "Will there be more or fewer at the end?" before they solve.
  • Hidden-start stories ("Some bears were in a cave …") are the hardest kind. They're in the Challenge on purpose. Use toys and let your child experiment.

How to help: Turn daily life into stories: kids getting on and off the bus, birds at a feeder, crackers at snack time. Let your child make up stories for you to solve, and sometimes get them "wrong" so they can correct you.

The Kindergarten Curriculum (2026) expects children to add and subtract to 10 using materials such as toys, fingers and ten frames. Stories with totals to 5 are a good place to use the number facts from Number Facts to 5.