Activities to support Numeral identification
Where are they now?
Students:
- name and identify numerals to ten
Where to next?
Students:
- name and identify numerals to twenty and beyond
- develop strong conceptual models of numbers connecting symbolic, verbal, concrete and visual representations beyond 10
- have a visual image of a set of items for a given number
Outcomes
The following activities provide opportunities for students to demonstrate progress towards the following outcomes. A student:
MAe-1WM describes mathematical situations using everyday language, actions, materials and informal recordings
MAe-2WM uses objects, actions, technology and/or trial and error to explore mathematical problems
MAe-3WM uses concrete materials and/or pictorial representations to support conclusions
MAe-4NA counts to 30, and orders, reads and represents numbers in the range 0-20
How?
Number flowers
Construct cardboard or paper cut-outs of flowers consisting of a stem and the flower centre (alternatively, use a numeral dice and counters. The dice can make the centre of the flower and the counters represent the petals). Write a numeral on the centre of each flower. Provide the students with a supply of cut-out petal shapes. Have the students place petals around a flower centre, corresponding to the displayed numeral.
Students could record their work by taking photos and describing their images, drawing their number flowers and explaining them to the class.
Pairs
Use numeral cards in the range 11-20 and matching dot cards (or dominos, twenty frame cards, etc.). Place the cards face up and have the students match each dot pattern card with the correct numeral card.
Variations
- Concentration: Turn both sets of cards face down. Have pairs of students take turns to turn over two cards at a time. If the two cards match, the student keeps the cards. If the cards do not match, the student turns the cards back over. Continue until all cards are matched. This game could also be played as a version of snap
- Turn up either all of the pattern cards or all of the numeral cards. Place the other set of cards face down. Have pairs of students take turns to turn over one card at a time to find a matching pair
Egg flip
Number sections of an egg carton using any numerals in the range of zero to twenty. Have the students take turns to place a counter inside the carton, close the lid and shake the carton, then open the lid and find which cup the counter has landed in. Provide the students with a number chart to match the numerals written inside the egg cartons. Students then mark off a numeral on the chart, corresponding to the numeral the counter landed on. The activity continues until one student marks off all numerals on his or her chart.
Variation
- Provide the students with a pile of counters. After shaking and opening the egg carton, the students take the corresponding number of counters from the central pile that match the number the counter lands on. The winner is the student with the most counters after a specified number of plays
Teen memory
Construct two sets of numeral cards for the numbers eleven to twenty. It would be useful here to have all numerals on the same coloured cardboard, however, the font type, colour and size of the matching pairs should be different (see sample below). Place the cards face down in rows between two students. Have the students take turns to flip over two cards and say the numbers as they are revealed. If the two cards show the same number, the student keeps the cards. If the cards do not match, the student places the cards face down again. Continue until all cards have been matched.
Why?
Students need to be exposed to a variety of representations in order to develop rich, flexible visual representations of numbers.
Teen bingo
Construct bingo cards using numerals in the range eleven to twenty (BLM - Bingo). (The cards may contain a numeral more than once.) Place a set of numeral cards, which correspond to the numerals on the bingo cards, into a container. Draw out the numeral cards one at a time and call out the drawn number. Have the students cover the corresponding numerals on their bingo cards with counters as the numbers are called out. The winner is the first to cover all of the numerals on his or her card.
Variations
- Play “the number before” or “the number after” bingo where students cover the number before or after the given number
- Show students a representation of an amount (such as images of ten and twenty frames) on an interactive whiteboard and have students mark off the corresponding numeral on their card
Sand tray numbers: Perceptual
Provide students with the lid of a shoe box (or some another appropriate object) with a layer of sand in the base as well as a pile of numeral cards in the range 10 - 20. Have the students turn over a card, trace the numeral on the card and then replicate the numeral in their sand box. Students could record their work by taking a photo to be shared witha partner or small group later. Students could also be asked to match the numeral with a domino or dot pattern card.
Variations
- Using zip lock bags with a small amount of paint and cotton buds
- Making numbers and amounts using play dough
Racing to write: Perceptual
Provide students with a laminated game board showing numeral outlines (BLM- Racing To Write), a different coloured marker each and a set of twenty frame cards. Students take turn to roll the dice and write the corresponding number on their game board. The first student to complete 2 rows wins the race.
Teen number puzzle cards
Make a set of puzzle cards demonstrating the teen numbers (see example below). Have students work to match the puzzles and then order them from smallest the largest or visa versa.
Variations
- Have students sort the dot patterns into categories (e.g. odd numbers and even numbers; smaller than 16, not smaller than 16, etc.) and discuss the similarities and differences between them
- Discuss with students what happens if we “swap” the numerals around e.g. 14 now becomes 41. Ask students, “What does the one represent? Does it still represent ten? Why or why not”
- Discuss what the “1” in 14 represents and whether it is the same “1” as one item, justifying and demonstrating thinking
- Lay out a series of number teen puzzle cards along a number line and ask students to identify which numbers are missing. Have students draw or write the missing amounts on a post-it note and add to the number line that has been made
- Provide students with two completed number puzzle cards and have them discuss and record what makes the numbers the same and what make them different. For example, if students were comparing 11 and 15 they could say that both numbers are odd numbers, both are larger than 10, both are less than 20, for example. They are different, however, as 11 is less than 13 but 15 is larger, 15 can be shared into 3 equal groups and 11 can not, 15 uses “teen” to explain it is larger than ten but eleven does not, etc