I Spy!

Samvida Venkatesh

Sania was excited. She was turning six today!
Papa was making his Very Special Pav Bhaji. And Sania's BEST friends - Aman, Zoya, Harpreet, Jude, Karan, Maria,
Priya (who was very bossy), Rohan, and Shaan - were coming for the
party.

Knock-knock! It was Maria. She had brought a BIG present. Ooooh!
Knock-knock! Knock, knock!
Soon, all NINE guests had arrived. Hurray!

"Let's play I Spy!" said Sania.
Sania loved I Spy because she knew how to stay very, very quiet.
Once, Maria could not find her for a whole hour!
"The birthday girl should count!" yelled Priya (who was very
bossy).

Knock-knock!
Who could it be now?
It was Jude's Papa, looking smart. He drove cars for a big hotel.
"I have been called in to work," he said. "Jude has to go home to his baby sister. I'm sorry, Jude. Happy birthday, Sania."

Jude left, looking sad. Sania was sad too.
Now there were only EIGHT
guests at her party.
"Come ON!" yelled Priya (who was very bossy). "Let's
start the game!"
Sania glared at her, but then closed her eyes and began to count.

"1, 2, 3..." Karan rolled himself into a mat.
"4, 5, 6…" Priya hoisted herself into the loft.
"7, 8, 9…" Harpreet ran out of the door.
"TEN!" yelled Sania. "Ready or not, here I come! "

EIGHT people to find!
Sania ran around the room like a mad thing, and
tripped over the mat.
"Ow!" said Sania.
"Ow!" said the mat.
"I spy Karan!" sang Sania. Poor Karan!
How many left to find? SEVEN!

" BOW BOW BOW! " Sania’s dog Raja dashed into the room with a
pink dupatta. Zoya came running in behind him.
"Bad dog!" she
shouted. "Naughty dog!"
"I spy Zoya!" laughed Sania.
That was easy!
How many left to find? SIX!

Sania dashed into the bedroom.
No one behind the mattresses.
Nothing
inside the trunk.

" ACHOOOO! " sneezed the cupboard.
Sania yanked the door open. " ACHOOO! " sneezed Rohan again.
"Too
much dust here," grumbled Aman.
"I spy Rohan AND Aman!" clapped Sania.
How many left to find? FOUR!

Sania climbed up to the roof. Something moved behind the water tank.
Sania crept closer.
"Hisss!" The cat shot out, straight into the clothesline.
"Yaaaaaa!" Mamma's saree yelled with fright and fell in a
heap on the ground.
"I spy Shaan!" cheered Sania.
How many left to find? THREE!

"SHOOO! GO AWAY! NOOOO!"
What was going on? Sania hurried into the garden. Behind the hibiscus bushes, she saw two scared girls and one fat bee.
"I spy Harpreet!" shouted Sania, running away from the bee.
"And Maria!"
How many left to find? ONE!

The smell of the Very Special Pav Bhaji filled the house. Sania's
stomach began to growl.
"Cake-cutting time, Sania!" called Mama. "We are all
waiting!"
"Happy birthday tooo youuuu!" sang everyone.
"Hello!" yelled an angry voice. "You haven't found me yet!"

"I spy Priya!" Sania tried not to laugh. "Cake?"
Harpreet
giggled. Zoya chuckled.
"How dare you laugh at..." Priya shook her fist.
THUD! She
fell out of the loft onto a pile of pillows.

Sania did not laugh. She
helped Priya up, and cut her a big slice of cake.
"Thank you," said Priya. She didn't sound bossy anymore.
"Happy birthday, Sania."
Sania smiled. How many left to find?
ZERO!

TAKE IT AWAY!
NINE of Sania's friends came to the party. When Jude left, there was
ONE LESS THAN NINE, i.e., EIGHT friends. ONE friend was TAKEN AWAY
from the group. We can write this as:
9 (friends) - 1 (Jude) = 8 (friends left).

When there were SIX friends left to find, Sania found Rohan AND Aman.
Now there were TWO LESS THAN SIX friends to find. TWO friends were
removed, or TAKEN AWAY.
We can write this as:
6 (friends) - 2 (Rohan and Aman) = 4 (friends left).
This 'TAKING AWAY' of a small number from a bigger number is called
SUBTRACTION .
But subtraction does not work only with friends.

It works just as well with rajma seeds...
If you TAKE AWAY 3 rajma seeds from 9, how many are you left with?
9 (seeds) - 3 (seeds) = _____________ (seeds left)
And it works even with rupee coins.
If you take away 4 rupee coins from a stack of 8 rupee coins, how
many do you have left?
8 (rupees) - 4 (rupees) = _____________ (rupees left)
Isn't that amazing?