Number Lines and Rekenreks:
Tools that COUNT!!
Presented by: Angela J. Williams
AMSTI Math Specialist
Number Lines
What can I do to prepare students
to use a number line flexibly?
Creating a Number Line
Use:
50 beads of 1 color
50 beads of a 2nd color
Alternate beads every 10.
Activities with
the Number Line

Count the beads by 1s (forward and
backward).

12 and 21 are two numbers. Find them
on your number line and describe them
to your partner.

Can you count from 16 to 31?
Activities with
the Number Line

Where is 47? How many tens are in this number?
How many ones?

Find 35. What is 10 more? 10 less?

Find 34. Is it closer to 30 or 40? How do you know?

Start at 3. Count forward by 10s. What is the last
number you say?
Activities with
the Number Line

Start at 82. Count back three 10s. Where
do you end?

Find 36. How far are you from 100?
Are you closer to 100 or 0?

Count by 5s. How many sets of 5 are in
100?
Activities with
the Number Line

Find 53. Add 15. Where do you end?
53 + 15 = 68

Find 36. Find 61. What do you add to
36 to get to 61?
36 + ___ = 61

Add three 10s to 28. What number do
you have?
28 + 30 = 58
Activities with
the Number Line

Find 66. Take 31 away. Where are you?
66 – 31 = 35

Find 75. Find 58. How far apart are
they?
75 – 58 = 17

Find 47. Find 19. What is the difference
between them?
47 - ___ = 19
Research Says:
“The use of number lines
increases students’ ability to
use numbers flexibly,
estimate, and visualize
numbers and therefore
increases number sense.”
(Wright, 2001)
Resources

http://nzmaths.co.nz/resource/number-lines-andbead-strings?parent_node=

books.google.com/books?isbn=0826486878

http://www.smartfirstgraders.com/number-line.html

http://www.education.com/activity/article/number
linegame_first/
If this is what I want….
WHERE DO I START?
What the heck is a
rekenrek?
How will a rekenrek help
my students?
developing one-to-one correspondence
ability to subitize
understanding of fives and tens
composing/decomposing numbers
recognizing the structure of our base-ten
system
basic fact fluency
hierarchical inclusion
(nestedness of numbers)
strategies for addition and subtraction
Let’s Make a Rekenrek!
Use:
10 beads of 1 color
10 beads of a 2nd color
Top row: 5 beads of 1st color.
5 beads of 2nd color.
Bottom row: 5 beads of 1st color.
5 beads of 2nd color.
Rekenrek Activity #1
Rekenrek Activity #2
Rekenrek Activity #3
Rekenrek Activity #4
Rekenrek Activity #5
Rekenrek Activity #6
Resources

http://bridges1.mathlearningcenter.org/media/Reke
nrek_0308.pdf

http://www.therekenrek.com/2013/

http://www.k5mathteachingresources.com/Rekenrek.html

https://cesa5mathscience.wikispaces.com/file/view
/Learning+to+Think+Mathematically+with+the+R
ekenrek.pdf

http://www.k5mathteachingresources.com/supportfiles/large10frames1-10.pdf