Teaching Place Value

[barefootcook]

DS is having difficulty understanding place value. What is the easiest way to explain this concept to him? Thank you.

How old is he, OP?

www.khanacademy.org/math/pre-algebra/order-of-operations/place_value/v/place-value-1

Assuming he's struggling with the basics, I would start practically.

Straws are good for this. Give him between 10 & 20 straws and get him to count them. Then with the same group of straws, count 10 into a bundle. How many groups of 10? How many loose straws? Re-count by counting the 10 first e.g. 10, 11, 12, 13. Repeat with larger numbers of straws over 20.

You could also print some 'tens cards' off the internet and count other things in the same way. How many full cards (tens)? How many ones? How many altogether?

From there I would move to recording that in a simple place value chat i.e. a table headed with Tens/Units, and start to write the numeral under the chart so he can begin to see the link between the place value and how we write the numbers.

I've done it with single digit addition, using lolly sticks, elastic bands and an HTU chart. Roll a dice and put that number of sticks in the U column. Roll it again and add that number of sticks. But as soon as you have 10 sticks in the U column you have to put an elastic band round them to make a bundle and put it in the tens column. Then when you've done that for long enough (ie got to 50 or 100), start subtracting each time you roll the dice. You'll find that when you only have 3 loose sticks in the units box, but you're trying to take away 7, you have to get 1 of your bundles of 10, take the elastic band off and then move it into the units column.

I've also seen it done where a child is given tubes of Frutella (or similar) for the 10s, and then sweets which are out of their packet for the units. So 37 would be 3 whole packets and 7 odd sweets.

I assume the child is at least in year 2? I wouldn't expect my year 1s to have a secure grasp on place value at this stage of the year. I've started to use a 100 bead bar (10 lots of 10 beads coloured alternately red and white) to introduce the idea that 13 is made up of 10 red beads and 3 white beads, but I'm not "properly" teaching it yet - just starting to drip feed the ideas in so that when we get to it, they can link the ideas together.

Practically grouping real objects into sets of 10 and then individual objects, and then counting how many you have is definitely the best way to develop children's understanding.

This powerpoint is also great Place Value with Pirate Pete You do have to subscribe to TES to download it, but the site is free to subscribe to.

Place the Penguin is good to re-enforce understanding once children have the concept.

Base ten blocks are great.
I make bead sticks with pipe cleaners and ten beads and the straw bundles.
Lots of reinforcing the concept the the left hand digit in a two digit number refers to tens and the right how many ones.

Thank you all for the great ideas. DS is 6. We are not in the UK but if we were he would be in Y2.

There are good web sites, which can be fun to use :

www.ictgames.com/

www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/page/default.asp?title=Woodlands%20Junior%20School&pid=1

These cover Literacy and Numeracy, and Woodlands does many other subjects. You should be able to find Place Value somewhere amongst these.

Second some kind of physical base 10 blocks/bundles. Ds played with dienes blocks a bit one summer. I didn't think he was learning much, mostly building towers, but somewhere in there he seems to have got place value nailed and can do all sorts of sums with carrying without ever having been taught.