Place Value

“Math Stations,” Chapter 6, Place Value

I just loved the “Our Class 100 Day Book” which was described in Chapter 6 of Debbie Diller’s book about place value. . As an Instructional Coach, I plan to create a mock-up of the book for my demonstration multi-grade classroom that I maintain in our district. I think I will bind it in 4 books of 25 days each and have all the suggested materials available in the station box. I’ll also make the I CAN Chart to post on the inside of the plastic storage box. In a multi-grade class, this activity offers learning opportunities for both grade levels. I love activities in which both grade levels can shine.

Counting by 5’s and 10’s Vinyl Mats

I have sets of durable vinyl mats that I made to practice counting by 5’s and 10’s.  Students roll out the mat and walk down the mat (kinetic) and whisper count the sequence using a ‘whisper phone.   

  Every child is successful as the digits and the words for the numbers are written on the mat. This mat can also be used to count the coins like nickels and dimes to $1.00.  When counting coins, students first lay large pictures of the coins next to each amount. Nickels when counting by 5’s and dimes  when counting by 10’s.  I hope that by using the mat for two purposes, students will make the connection between the two concepts.

Base Ten Blocks and Mats

For students that need support when using manipulatives for place value, I adapt the base ten blocks like this:

As they play a game, like “Making One Hundred” the students stack their ten’s block on top of the 100’s block. This seems to help students form a concept link about the relationship between tens and hundred.  It also shows the student how many more tens are needed to make one hundred.

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

On page 153, Debbie Diller mentions this wonderful website. If you want to work with base 10 blocks to show addition or subtraction for the WHOLE CLASS, these applets are eye catching dynamite when using an LCD projector. Click on the applet names below to take you directly to NLVM. To quickly learn how to operate the applet, click on the "?instruction."

  Base Blocks – Illustrate addition and subtraction from ones to thousands place.

 

  Base Blocks Addition – Use base ten blocks to model grouping in addition.

You may drag a base block into a column to the left or back to its appropriate column, but when you move a block one column to the right, it breaks apart to show that you have made an Exchange. When you move 10 ones to the right a ten's long is created.

In Base Block Subtraction the red blocks are used to cancel out or subtract the blue block. If you need to trade a ten’s to make 10 one’s units,  then the ten block will split apart into 10 ones when it is dragged into the 1’s column.  It's cool and the student love it!

WOW... (gasp) I learned how to use my new I PAD 2 to take the pictures and upload them to the blog.

Deborah