1. Click here for Integrating PV
2. Click here for Great Prompts
3. Click here for Place Value Activities
4. Click here for Manipulatives
5. Click here for Other Resources

Integrating PV with other subjects:

• • With math: measurement, estimation, computation and data analysis
  • With science: count collections of whatever you’re studying, stars, seashells, pine-cones, seeds
  • With socials: money system, distances on a map, populations, other number systems (Mayan)
  • With languages: explore other number systems (Chinese base 10)
  • Art: collages of groups of 1’s or 10’s
  • Relate problems to school environment: how many pockets/buttons/socks/thumbs/fingers /lockers are in the class/grade/school (everyone puts one unifix cube in each of their pockets, come together and group to count)

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Great prompts:

• • How high can you count? How many groups of 10 can you make?

• • Pick two digits, put one to the left and make that many group of 10’s, put one to the right and make that many 1’s; what number do you have?

• • Have a container and fill it with a different item each week (lentils, beans, marshmallows, etc.). The students should estimate how many; at the end of the week, S’s should count them in groups of 10 and confirm the amount.

• • Conduct a data project the kids are interested in; use the collection for PV discussion.

• • Create a large PV mat with people, how could we arrange ourselves to create the biggest number?

• • Can you show 6 fingers? What about 37?

• • Fill a container with beads and estimate, divide into groups and count. Now count a different way. Now try a different material.

• • Make a shape that would be covered by 32 tiles. Now cover with tiles using different colours for each group of 10. Extend to an art project by using coloured construction paper and students pick their own number.

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Place Value activities: 

• NRICH on-line activities (many of these could be altered to be off-line activities as well).
  • Matching numbers
  • Coded Hundred Square 
  • 6 Beads 
  • Two Digit Targets 
  • 5 steps to 50
  • Largest Even
• Other activities
  • Tenzi
  • Stars in a minute by Marilyn Burns (draw as many as you can, group in tens, person with most wins)

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Manipulatives that develop place-value:

• • Unifix cubes

• • Ten frames

• • Base 10 blocks

• • Number cards where the tens card is twice the length of the ones and the hundreds is three times as long

• • Paper-clips

• • Toothpicks (group in bunches of 10)

• • Straws (group in bunches of 10)

• • Money (pennies-dimes or $1 – $10)
  • Place Value Cards

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Further Reading:

• • Place Value: The Ten-ness of 10
  • Number Sense Development
  • PV as a building block
  • How to develop PV
  • Number sense and place value

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Do you have more suggestions for place-value development in the early years? Write them in the comments below!