Making sense of place value and calculation
A resource for ITE students exploring the one of the big ideas in mathematics
Making sense of place value and calculations
Activity One: Patterns and structures of numbers to ten
These activities offer opportunities for children to develop their understanding of the
patterns and structure of numbers up to ten in a variety of ways. Asking the children
to work in pairs on the activities also supports them to develop their mathematical
communication skills.
Recognising groups
This activity works on facilitating children to recognise the number of objects in a
group without counting.
Begin with sets under five and lay out a set of objects (e.g., counters, cubes, teddy
bears) which are shielded from the child by a piece of paper. Quickly show the set to
the child and then cover it up again. Ask the child how many objects they saw and
can they show this on their fingers? Repeat and change the number. This activity
can be used with sets of up to ten objects.
Make a number
Provide children with a range of material (e.g., beads, counters, multi-link, teddy
bears) and ask them to make a set for a number. Provide opportunities for children
then to split the set of objects to find as many different ways as they can of making
the number. Ask the children to record the different combinations in equations.
Finger patterns
This activity draws on children’s intuitive use of patterns from their fingers. Ask
children to make numbers between five and ten on their fingers. Ask them to
describe what the numbers are made of using the fingers on each hand.
Find the number around the classroom
Give your pupils a number to look for around the classroom. Encourage them to find
multiple representations of the same number such as pictures, sets of objects and
digits.
Making sense of place value and calculation
A resource for ITE students exploring the one of the big ideas in mathematics
Number bonds
Use multi-link cubes and ask the children to make a number out of the cubes.
Encourage the use of two different colours to highlight the different number bonds for
each number. Ask the children to record as many different equations as they can to
make the number