Here is a glimpse of our Math Talks for this week, all centered around the new Place Value unit we are starting. From my understanding, students have to identify numerals in the tens and ones places in two-digit numbers. Additionally, we are asking them to visualize the quantity of a given numeral and describe it. Not too long ago, we were simply trying not to mix up numerals 2 and 5. This is a huge task that is "new" to the grade level thanks to CCSS. We also talk a lot about what the numbers we know well represent, or stand for. Tricky stuff for children to conceptualize!
Here is about how the story goes. The Number House has a place for all our numbers, but we noticed 2 doors. One door is tall and one door is short. The tall is for the "groups of ten" and the shorter is for the "extras," or "ones." We've named them as such because they are not a full group of 10, and therefore qualify for the tens place. Any number can go into the house, but they have to use the correct door. We explore
This language comes from our daily calendar routine, or math meeting. We count the school days on a base-ten style board. It helps students understand that full groups have 10, and are moved to the next "place." More on that to come soon!
Screenshot of our Place Value Day of School Count, using SMART Notebook
As for the math talk, our number house is a very fine number house, and paired with the student's previous understanding during calendar time will go over just fine. How do you introduce, explain or extend place value in your EC classroom?
