Could You Be Hurting Your Students by Using This?

Recently, I started doing math intervention with a small group of students.  I noticed when given a mat similar to the one above that the students didn’t really understand all of the wording beneath the boxes.  They heard the word thousand and they were completely confused.  This caused them to begin looking for the thousands box when hearing a number called out orally.  I also had students holding the mat vertically and writing the numbers vertically.  For this lower group of students, I finally just pulled out the white boards and had them begin writing numbers by filling in blanks such as this…

_____,  _____  _____  _____,  _____  _____  _____

This worked out better with much less confusion after I explained how when coming to a comma that you say the name of the period such as thousands or millions.  Show students how to cover up everything on the outside of the comma and just say the three digit numbers.  This will give students a starting point.  Most students can say three digit numbers in third grade and beyond.  If you teach kids that there is a pattern to being able to say numbers, they will feel so empowered.

In case you are having difficulties with this in your classroom, this product below may be just what you are looking for!  It completely explains how to verbalize large numbers with great ideas for anchor charts like below.