column addition problem solving year 3

Column addition

Unit 5 – 2 weeks

The PowerPoint file contains slides you can use in the classroom to support each of the learning outcomes for this unit, listed below. The slides are comprehensively linked to associated pedagogical guidance in the  NCETM Primary Mastery Professional Development materials . There are also links to the ready-to-progress criteria detailed in the  DfE Primary Mathematics Guidance 2020 .

Classroom slides for this unit

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• Add in columns

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Column form addition word problems

Word problems for grade 3.

These grade 3 word problems requiring column form addition to solve. Students should have studied column form addition before attempting these worksheets. Difficulty of questions vary.

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Column Addition Year 3

Teach your Year 3 class about formal column addition with this ready-to-teach lesson . Children will start by being shown a formal column addition calculation where the digits have been replaced with place value counters. They will use this diagram to explain what is being shown and start to understand how the formal column method works. The slides then go through further examples, modelling how to solve and addition problems using the formal column method, using place value counters to help them visualise what happens when numbers are exchanged. Children can then use column addition to solve a variety of problems.

This Column Addition Year 3 Maths lesson includes:

• a detailed lesson plan with differentiated activities
• a slideshow for the teaching input
• a range of printable resources for independent learning activities

This lesson is part of our Let's Add and Subtract for Year 3 and Year 4.

Formal Column Addition Year 3 Lesson Pack

Scroll through the pictures for a preview of the lesson's resources:

Column Addition

What is column addition.

Column addition is a formal method of addition that involves setting out the calculation in place value columns. This simplifies the calculation because you only ever need to add the digits in one column at a time, starting with the ones column then moving onto the tens column, then hundreds, then thousands.

Let's look at an example:

To add 26 and 53, start by setting out the calculation so that the digits are split into place value columns.  

Start with the ones column. In this case, you add 6 and 3 to make 9 . Record the sum of the ones under the ones column.

Next, add the numbers in the tens column. 2 and 5 make 7 . Record the sum of the tens under the tens column. This represents 70.

There are no digits in the hundreds column so the final answer to 26 + 53 = 79.

What is exchanging in column addition?

If the digits in a column add up to less than ten, you simply record the sum under the ones. If the digits add up to more than one, you need to exchange the ten. In other words, you move the ten into the tens column.

To add 43 and 39, start by setting out the calculation so that the digits are split into place value columns.

Start with the ones column. In this case, you add 3 and 9 to make 12 . Because this is dealing with ones, we only record the 2 in the ones column. We then exchange the ten ones from twelve into one ten. We record this 1 ten in the tens column underneath the answer row.

Next, add all the numbers in the tens column, including the 1 ten we exchanged from adding three and nine. In this case, 4 + 3 + 1 equal 8 , which is recorded underneath the tens digits. This represents 80.

There are no digits in the hundreds column so the final answer to 43 + 39 = 82.

The process is the same for two-, three- and four-digit numbers (or numbers of any size). You simply move along the place value columns, starting with the ones, then moving left to the tens, then hundreds, then thousands, etc., until there is nothing left to add.

Here's another example:

To add 257 and 496, start by adding the ones. In this example, 7 and 6 equal 13. We have to exchange the ten ones into one ten .

Next, we add the digits in the tens column. 5 + 9 + 1 is 15. Again, we need to exchange ten tens into one hundred .

Next, add the digits in the hundreds column. 2 + 4 + 1 is 7. This represents 700.

There is nothing left to add so the final answer to 257 + 496 = 753.

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Column Addition (1 Exchange) Discussion Problem

Ensure children have a good understanding of adding with an exchange with this Year 3 Column Addition Discussion Problem. It features an open-ended activity with a real-life context of a computer game to keep pupils engaged and on-task. This resource is ideal for challenging students and works well as both an independent and group task. One possible solution is provided.

Curriculum Objectives

• Add and subtract numbers with up to three digits, using formal written methods of columnar addition and subtraction

Addition and Subtraction (within 1,000)

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