Why is place value so hard? Place value is the understanding that the place of the digit determines its value. So a 2 in the ones place is far different from a 2 in the tens place. It is one of the most important concepts to understand in math because it is the root … Continue reading Place Value Cards for Primary
Number Sense
Three Cheers for Talking Points!
My Talk on Talking Points My new favourite technique for getting students to communicate mathematically, in a way that requires them to reason and justify their thinking, is Talking Points! Over the years, I have used different methods as a way to elicit student thinking; however, I love the way talking points encourage each child … Continue reading Three Cheers for Talking Points!
Odds and Evens
I went and asked a few Grade 5 students to tell me about odd and even numbers, and this is what they said: Student A: “3 is odd, 2 is even” Student B:“anything ending in a 0, 2,4,6,8 is even and anything ending in a 1, 3, 5, 7, 9” is odd. The students told … Continue reading Odds and Evens
Digits versus Numbers
Rory was playing the Osmo Numbers Game (he was pretty spoiled by Santa this year!), and he was getting really frustrated because the game wanted him to make the number 12, and he kept doing 1 and 2 (instead of 10 and 2) and not getting it right. This led me to wonder how I … Continue reading Digits versus Numbers
Math Milestones with my little men 