Composing and Decomposing numbers

We launched our week thinking about composing and decomposing numbers.  We have explored a new game with chips, flipping a card building a number less than that number and asking our partner to then add chips to get to the number on the card.  If I flip 5, I might place 3 chips on the rug.  My partner then has to figure out how many more chips to place on the rug to get to 5.  We then say the number sentence that matches our work, three and 2 make 5.  How many different ways can we make 5?  We are working on creating flexible thinkers in math that can see numbers in a variety of ways.  Here are a few comments that students made as we played this game:  I know 4 and 1 make 5, just like on a dice, 4 on the outside, 1 in the middle.  2 and 2 make 4 so, I know 2 and 3 make 5 because 3 is 1 more than 2.  There was lots of discussion around these student generated statements.  I am constantly in awe of these fabulous learners and their growing understanding each day!