Mental Maths

Mental Math Strategies Year 2 {What To Teach!}If you want to make mental maths easy you’re in the right place! Teach your students the Bridging To 10 Addition Strategy to help build flexibility and confidence with doing maths in your head.

Here you will find what you need to know about using the Bridge to 10 Strategy to solve addition math problems.

Teaching mental maths is all about helping your students to do everyday maths in their heads swiftly and with confidence. For students to be successful and confident at doing maths mentally, they need to be explicitly taught a range of mental math strategies and encouraged to use the different strategies to solve the right problem in an efficient manner. 

Related Post: Must Know Mental Math Strategies (year 2)

What is Bridging To 10 in Maths?

The Bridging To (or Through) 10 mental math strategy is the first strategy that uses partitioning, also known as number splitting. Bridging through 10 is a mental Maths technique that is used to add two numbers whose total is more than 10.

The bridging to 10 addition strategy is a math trick that many people do without even realising it! Simply put, it involves splitting numbers into parts by bridging to the nearest 10, and then taking things from there.to make the addition problem easier.

For example, Bridging To 10 can be used to solve a sum like 8 + 7 using this thinking…

8 + 7 = ? 

• I can Split the 7 into 2 and 5,
• and put the 2 with the 8 to make a bridge to 10
• So now it’s 10 + 5 = 15

Using Bridging To 10 is perfect for introducing young learners who are still getting familiar with double-digit numbers. However, children who do not know their number bonds to 10, or “Rainbow Facts” may struggle using this strategy.

It’s also important for students to name the strategy as “Bridge to 10” or “Bridge through 10”, just like you name Rainbow Facts, doubles, near doubles etc… This way when a child is asked “how they solved” a problem they can explain their thinking using the name of the strategy.

Download our numeracy expert-designed resources to help your students develop fluency and a strong understanding of the Bridging To Ten Meantal Maths Strategy…