Math: Subitizing and Ten Frames
Subitizing is the ability to ‘see’ a small amount of objects and know how many there are without counting. Subitizing is what tells you what number you roll on a six sided dice – most adults no longer have to count the pips after playing board games for a while. Subitizing is a fundamental skill in the development of students’ understanding of number (Baroody 1987, 115). Students use patterns recognized to discover properties and skills such as conservation, compensation, unitizing, counting on, composing and decomposing numbers, as well as understanding of arithmetic and place value. The ability to subitize can be developed, and uses a student’s pattern recognition skills. Part part whole understanding is usually used to subitize numbers over four or five. This means a student looking at this pattern doesn’t usually see 7, but instead 1 and 6, or maybe 2 and 5. This is one of the reasons larger patterns shouldn’t be used until students are familiar with various representations of numbers 1 to 5. When two colours are used in patterns, they also draw attention to smaller anchors and make the parts more obvious. Here is an article that speaks about the why and what of subitizing. These websites have many downloads for educators to use in whole and small group work (Try this one out too!). Teaching Math has many resources for this. Here are Dot Cards and another set of Dot Cards that are large enough for class discussion. Here is another teacher resource that thinks about dot cards and ten frames as a tool for subitizing. Pinterest also has a great tag for subitizing ideas.
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Ten Frames
5/10/20 Frames Ten frames provide a reference to the anchors of 5 and 10. Since our number system and understanding of place value are dependent on groupings of 10, these tools provide a key underpinning for place value work. They also provide support for many addition fact strategies, such as Bonds of Ten and Make Ten (bridging). The various materials below can form an important part of oral / mental math time in the early grades. Math mats help students organize materials in a mathematically meaningful way. 'What is a Ten Frame' is a great article to share with new educators and paras. Many Ways to Fill a ten-frame discusses the 2 options for 'filling a ten frame' and the rationale behind each method. Here is document that describes many games and activities to use with ten frames. Pinterest has a great 10 Frame Topic Board too. This link has many downloads on ten frames and subitizing.
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