Number Lines

I have found number lines to be one of the most helpful tools in teaching and helping elementary students solve addition and subtraction problems. Working in an elementary school myself, I help a lot of students with their addition and subtraction problems. Adding and subtracting are the most basic of math operations, and I feel that they need to be mastered before moving on to more complicated concepts; adding and subtracting are the base of math. I have also discovered that number lines help clarify how we get negative numbers, I know this to be really hard for students to understand.

I found a great website called funbrain.com that has a great Line Jump game that helps students. Students can chose from multiple games. Once you chose a game, a screen loads up with a number line, and  an airplane above it. The goal is to drop the parachute from the plane onto the correct number on the number line. The games that students can choose from are as follows:

• Easy which is a basic 0 through 10 number line with one digit addition and subtraction facts. The problems, 3+1 for example, show up above the number line. The dot shows up on the first number of the problem, and then the student moves the dot to the left (for subtraction) or the right (for addition). 
• Medium gives the student a number line numbered 0 through 20, and different addition and subtraction problems show up. Once again, you would drop the parachute from the airplane onto the correct number.
• Hard starts introducing students to negative numbers on a number line numbered -8 through 8. Just like the previous settings, you are given different addition and subtraction problems, but this time they start mixing in adding and subtracting of negative numbers.
• Really Hard is almost the same as the Hard game, consisting of the same -8 through 8 number line, but involves more negative problems.
• Super Brain has a -16 to 16 number line, and just like the Really Hard game, involves more of the negative moving problems.

I have found the number line jump game to be extremely helpful in helping the students at my job, as well as my own child. I would even be honest and say that it has helped me myself, I no longer need to use a calculator to figure out basic adding and subtracting problems.