We began today's session with a review of mathematical terms used in problem solving. Nicholas was able to remember that a synonym for the answer in an addition computation problem is the sum. He had difficulty pronouncing the term subtraction but appeared to gain an understanding that it was the opposite of addition. In order to achieve this, we used an abacus to solve a result in unknown word problems: 10 - 2 = ? Unit cubes and other tangible/manipulatives found in the classroom were used to engage Nicholas and facilitate his ability to solve subtraction word problems with missing addend subtraction equations. By showing him the relationship between 'adding on' and 'taking away' Nicholas will learn to apply strategies to either addition or subtraction to solve these types of word problems, with addition related to the action of putting together and subtraction related to the action of taking apart. He will come to see that, depending on how he comes to think about these word problems, either is appropriate for the "addend unknown" problems - and seeing it both ways emphasizes the relationship between addition and subtraction. We worked on a double-sided page of math homework (pgs. 11 and 12). Nicholas's mom was advised to let him work on i-Ready math at home on the computer as this was Monday's homework as noted in Nicholas's folder. He finished the session assembling a modular construction on a baseboard grid using Lego's, and demonstrated a vivid imagination regarding the objects he created and the scene depicted. For the remainder of the week, Nicholas will continue to work on applying strategies to model subtraction within 10, using models to solve and complete number sentences.