Splitting
Splitting:
A strategy that partitions (splits) numbers into smaller addends factors or place values to make calculations easier.
Videos for Educators
Important Information:
Splitting is a strategy where numbers in an equation are broken apart into their place value to make calculations easier.
This involves, for example, combining 25 objects and 37 objects by breaking apart both numbers into their tens and ones, combining the tens, combining the ones, and finally combining the total of the tens with the totals of the ones.
20 + 30 = 50
5 + 7 = 12
50 + 12 = 62
Examples of what students might do:
Examples of what students might say:
"I first split my numbers into their place values. I then added up all of the 10's. Next I added the ones and then I combined my two answers."
"I split both of my numbers into 10's and 1's. I subtracted the 10's and I subtracted the 1's. I then subtracted both of my answers to get my final total."
Strategies to Support Student Learning
Practice using place value charts while doing addition and subtraction. Have students work with each column and then combine what they have leftover to completed the equation.
Taking from 10 helps to support splitting because students start to split double digit numbers along place-value lines (74 - 26 = 70 & 4, 20 & 6). Students can then subtract the decade numbers first: 70 - 20 = 50. They then subtract 6 from the result: 50 - 6 = 44. Finally, they add the 4 from the start numbers back on to the answer. This demonstrates how all of these strategies work together to support proficiency and student understanding.
Students that use this strategy are developing many of the key ideas in mathematics, such as place value, part-whole relationships and commutative property. They understand that the position of a digit determines its value
Experience with making models of two-digit numbers using base ten blocks supports students use of this strategy.