🏀 Maya's Basketball Math Adventure

Counting and Simple Addition for Grades 1-2

Maya's Basketball Challenge

Maya's basketball team is practicing free throws, but they keep losing count of their score!

The gymnasium echoes with bouncing balls. Thump, thump, thump. Maya's sneakers squeak against the shiny wooden floor as she dribbles toward the hoop. The orange basketball feels rough in her small hands.

"How many shots did I make?" Maya asks, pointing at the scattered balls near the basket.

What You'll Learn Today

  • 🔢 Count objects up to 20
  • 🧩 Understand part-part-whole relationships
  • ➕ Solve addition problems within 10
  • ⭐ 2nd Grade Extension: Introduction to subtraction
Part: One group of objects (like Maya's first 3 shots) 🏀🏀🏀
Part: Another group of objects (like Maya's next 2 shots) 🏀🏀
Whole: All the objects together (3 + 2 = 5 total shots) 🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Let's Practice with Maya!

Students get 10 bean bags (basketballs) and a small container (hoop). They take turns shooting and counting their makes.

📋 Structured Practice Steps:

  1. Take 5 shots 🏀
  2. Group your "made" shots in one pile (Part 1) ✅
  3. Group your "missed" shots in another pile (Part 2) ❌
  4. Count each part, then count the whole: "3 makes + 2 misses = 5 total shots" 🧮

Basketball Counting Practice

Problem 1

Count the basketballs in each group:

Group 1:
🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀

Group 1 = _____

Group 2:
🏀 🏀 🏀

Group 2 = _____

Group 3:
🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀

Group 3 = _____

Problem 2

Part-Part-Whole Addition

Maya made 3 shots before lunch. (Part 1)
Maya made 4 shots after lunch. (Part 2)
How many shots did Maya make total? (Whole)

Part 1
🏀 🏀 🏀
3
+
Part 2
🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀
4
=
Whole
🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀
_____

3 + 4 = _____

Problem 3

More Basketball Math!

The team has 5 basketballs in the bag. (Part 1)
Coach brings 2 more basketballs. (Part 2)
How many basketballs do they have now? (Whole)

In the bag
🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀
5
+
Coach brings
🏀 🏀
2
=
Total
🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀
_____

5 + 2 = _____

Problem 4

Maya's Scoring Success!

Maya scored 6 points in the first quarter. (Part 1)
She scored 3 points in the second quarter. (Part 2)
How many points did she score altogether? (Whole)

1st Quarter
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
6
+
2nd Quarter
⭐⭐⭐
3
=
Total Points
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
_____

6 + 3 = _____

Advanced Challenge: Subtraction

After addition practice, let's try subtraction: "You took 10 shots and made 7. How many did you miss?"

Total Shots Taken:
🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀
10
Shots Made:
🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀
7
10 - 7 = _____
Shots Missed:
❌❌❌
_____

Draw and Add Practice

Draw & Solve 1

2 + 3 = ?

Draw 2:
🏀 🏀
+
Draw 3 more:
🏀 🏀 🏀
=
Total:
🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀
_____
Draw & Solve 2

4 + 1 = ?

Draw 4:
🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀
+
Draw 1 more:
🏀
=
Total:
🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀 🏀
_____

🏆 Bonus Challenges

1st Grade Bonus

Challenge Problem

The other team scored 5 points. Maya's team scored 3 more points than them. How many points did Maya's team score?

Other team's points:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5
Maya's team scored 3 MORE points
Maya's team points:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
_____
5 + 3 = _____
2nd Grade Bonus

Subtraction Challenge

Maya's team scored 8 points. The other team scored 5 points. How many more points did Maya's team score?

Maya's team:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
8
Other team:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5
How many MORE?
⭐⭐⭐
_____
8 - 5 = _____

🌟 Great Job Today!

You helped Maya count her basketball shots and solved addition and subtraction problems!

🏀 🎉 🏆 ⭐ 🎊

What We Learned:

  • ✅ Counted objects up to 20
  • ✅ Used part-part-whole thinking
  • ✅ Solved addition problems
  • ✅ Tried subtraction challenges
  • ✅ Had fun with basketball math!

Keep practicing your math skills, and remember: every mathematician started by counting just like you did today! 🏀📚