Training guide

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Number sense

Number sense is an important skill that all people need in order to understand the world around them.

But some children, for many reasons, do not get the chance to get a real feeling for single digit numbers.

And many more get very confused over larger numbers or very small numbers.

Classroom Example 7.1: Increasing number sense in all children

A primary school wanted to make sure that all their children developed good number sense at least for numbers under a hundred. 

The school set up a series of games which the children would enjoy playing in lessons across the curriculum. The school decided that once the children understood the rules of the games, the teachers would observe what was happening. By observing the various games, teachers would be able to pick out who understood numbers of all sizes well and who needed more help. 

Over the course of a week, the children worked in different groups so that the teachers could see if some children were copying others and did not really understand, and which children had a good understanding and needed to be challenged more.

Children in groups playing games.

The games the school used were:

  1. Question and answer game
  2. Identifying the mathematics game
  3. Loop card game
  4. Moruba cultural game
  5. Number 999 game

    This game needs a set containing four lots of 0–9 number cards and a pen and paper per group. Each player writes 999 on their paper. They take turns to turn over three cards and arrange them in such a way that they make the biggest number they can. They then subtract this number from 999 and record what is left. The next player takes three cards and makes the biggest number they can and subtracts it from what is left. As they turn over the cards they will make a pile of ‘used’ cards – if they run out of cards they bring the ‘used’ cards pile back into play.

    If a player cannot make a number from their cards that can be taken away from what is left, they miss a go. The winner is the first one to reach zero. The game can be played in pairs or groups of three. 

    Until the learners build their fluency with numbers and subtracting, it may be a good idea to limit the game to about 10 minutes and declare the player with the lowest number the winner.

    The game can be adapted for numbers up to 100, making it the 99 game. Use 3 sets of 0 to 9 per group for this adaptation.