Class 1/2 can Trust the Count and Understand Place Value

In Class 1/2 we have been working on the big ideas in number.

Trusting the count is knowing that when you’re counting a set of objects, the last number you say represents the total number in the set. If you count a set of objects and then count it again, you’ll get the same answer…every time. If you move around a set of objects but nothing is added or removed from the set, you’ll get the same answer…every time.

There is a misconception that if a student can count to 100, they trust the count. This may not be true. For example, children who know the Alphabet song may not know the letter symbols that match. Students who can tell you a book by memory may not be able to read the words in the book. Students who can count may not know what those numbers mean.

Another misconception is that if a student can add small numbers, they trust the count. If a student is adding 5 + 8 but counts out 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13, they do not trust the count. They are recounting both numbers. If this continues, imagine the issues when adding 345 + 471.

Place value represents an understanding that 1 is not necessarily just 1, in the number 14 (for example), the 1 represents 1 ten. This idea is difficult for young learners to grasp. The idea ‘ten of these is one of those’ is the building block of the base 10 numeration system and having a strong sense of numbers 0–10 is a prerequisite for developing place value understanding. This means modelling, reading and writing the numbers to 10 using materials, words, diagrams and symbols as well as having mental objects for the numbers to ten.

Here is Class 1/2 working on trusting the count and place value.