The blog and resources library of a primary school teacher in Scotland
  Monday Morning Teacher
  • My Blog
  • Follow Me!
  • About Me
  • Books
  • Resources
    • Numeracy
    • Literacy >
      • Alphabet
    • End of Year

Numeracy and Number Sense

22/6/2015

1 Comment

 
As the year ends, I've been thinking a lot about how I teach number sense in maths. As I've been in Primary 1 (kindergarten) this year, that is my main job in numeracy. I want my kiddos to go up to Primary 2 with a solid understanding of early numbers and how you can combine and take apart numbers in different ways.

One of the resources I've loved this year (and which I think has made a positive difference to the numeracy learning in my class) is dot cards. I first heard about dot cards on Math Coach's Corner, and I bought her dot card set on Teachers Pay Teachers to get started.

Primary ones need lots of experiences counting concrete objects. But you also want them to start being able to subitise - to see groups of objects as a group, rather than having to count each one individually. Dot cards are a great way to develop this skill in a fun way.

As you can see from the side of one of my cupboards below, there are dot card rings available for kids to use in my class. I keep some rings out for the kids and some with me, that I use during our mental maths time. The kids love playing 'teacher' with these rings, and quizzing each other on 'how many dots' they see.
Picture
As part of our mental maths at least 2-3 times a week, I use a routine similar to the one found in Number Talks: Grades K-5 - Helping Children Build Mental Math and Computation Strategies. Using one of the sets of cards, I flash a card for a few seconds. My kids love the challenge of figuring out 'how many' when I've told them that they only get to see the card for one second!

When they know how many dots are on the card, they put a 'thumbs up' on their chest (so I don't have hands waving in faces and distracting others who are still thinking). I then have several kiddos tell me 'how many dots' they saw. Once we have several answers (or, when everyone is on the ball, only one correct answer), I get the children to tell me 'how they saw their number'. Hopefully, kids will see groups of dots and be able to add those groups together - for example, in the dot card ring furthest to the left, I'm pleased when my kids can tell me they saw 4 + 3 = 7, although someone else might tell me they see 6 black dots + 1 white dot makes 7 - also great thinking.

I always write up the sums they tell me they see, so we can see how many different ways there are to 'see' the groups of dots. When kids tell me that they counted all of the dots, we write up 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 7. Kids can see for themselves that counting gets the right answer, but that there are faster, more efficient ways to get there.

As I'll be moving to Primary 3 next year, I've been thinking about how to continue to use my dot cards to develop number sense in older kiddos. I suspect that some of my kids will benefit from some of the dot card sets I'm currently using with my almost-Primary 2s, while I'll need to have a think about how to develop subitising skills for older children who are working with larger numbers.
1 Comment
Kindergarten Math Curriculum link
6/6/2025 01:08:41 pm

This post beautifully highlights why strong number sense is essential for young learners—it’s the foundation for all future math success! I love the emphasis on intentional, meaningful numeracy activities.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    100 Days Of School
    2 Times Table
    Adding And Subtracting
    Adding Strategies
    Addition
    AI And AY Sounds
    Ai Phoneme Game
    Alphabet
    Art
    A Teachable Teacher
    AW Words
    Back To School
    Ball Words
    Base 10 Materials
    Book Bands
    Book Levelling
    Books
    Christmas
    CK Wall Words
    Class Library
    Class Maths Area
    Classroom Organisation
    Colouring
    Compound Words
    Computation Strategies
    Counting On And Back
    Counting On Fingers
    CVCe Words
    Decoding Strategies
    Differentiated Kindergarten
    Digraphs
    Dipthongs
    Dolch Words
    Dot Cards
    EW Words
    Fast Finisher Tasks
    First Week Of School
    Fist Numbers
    Flashcards
    Fractions
    Freebies!
    Free Play
    General
    Homework
    IGH Words
    Independence
    Initial Blends
    John Mighton
    Jolly Phonics
    JUMP Math
    Kindergarten
    Kinesthetic Learners
    Literacy
    Literacy Games
    Literacy Resources
    Long A Sounds
    Magic E
    Maths Journals
    Maths Resources
    Maths Stations
    Mental Maths
    Messy Play
    Mixed Operations
    MMT On Facebook
    Morning Routine
    Multiplication
    Myth Of Ability
    North Lanarkshire Active Literacy
    North Lanarkshire Active Literacy Resources
    North Lanarkshire Active Literacy Stage 2
    North Lanarkshire Active Literacy Stage 3
    Number Formation
    Number Of The Day
    Number Sense
    Numbers To 10
    Numeracy
    OU Words
    OW (long O) Words
    Phoneme Resources
    Phonemes
    Place Value
    Playdough
    Primary 1
    Primary 2
    Primary 3
    Problem Solving
    Reading
    Reading Comprehension Strategies
    Reading Comprehension Strategy - Retelling
    Rights Respecting School
    Sight Words
    Spelling
    Stage 1 Phonemes
    Stage 2 North Lanarkshire Active Literacy
    Stage 2 Phonemes
    Stage 3 Phonemes
    Story Maps
    Subitizing
    Subtraction
    Summer Holidays
    Task Cards
    Teachers Pay Teachers
    Ten Frames
    The Kapok Tree
    UN Convention On The Rights Of The Child
    Wall Words
    Word Wall
    Write The Room
    Y (long E) Words

    About Me

    I have taught from P1-P5 (K-4th grade). You'll find a variety of resources and ideas appropriate for these year groups as you explore this blog. I'm glad you are here and I hope you find activities, ideas or resources that are useful in your own class. 

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    July 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    December 2018
    August 2017
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015

 2020 Monday Morning Teacher