Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade Tidbits: Place Value

We are knee-deep in learning place value. It's been difficult this year due to our hybrid schedule. I see each of my classes every other day, so solid retention of some of the more challenging skills takes longer. Today's post is showing what we've been doing in class. Hopefully you can snag a few new ideas to add to your instruction!

To begin, we ensure that our kids can count aloud to 120, as well as count by 10's to 120, starting at any number. We practice this with Jack Hartmann videos and activities that I have created, which are shown below.

This counting forward by 10's "Write the Room" activity is great for practice. I've used it a few different ways. One way is to sprinkle the cards on desks around the room. Give kids a recording sheet and let them walk around at their own pace and stop at desks, solving the cards. An additional idea is to print multiple sets of the cards and place students into groups. Put a set of the cards in the middle of a group and have students grab a card, solve it, and return it to the pile. *Giving kids a clipboard is always a fun addition!

"Number Grid Puzzles" are SO MUCH FUN! They can be challenging but they are so great! To make these, simply copy 120 charts onto different colors of paper. Cut the charts into "puzzles" and place each set into a baggie. The kids can grab a bag to work on.

Another fun activity is called "What's Missing?" For this activity, print and laminate 120 charts. Provide partners with a chart and a set of 10 or so mini-erasers. One person looks away while the other person covers some of the numbers on the chart with mini-erasers. Once finished, the person turns around and guesses the covered numbers. So simple but so much fun! Jennifer has a freebie of this activity, which you can grab by clicking HERE.

Once kids are pretty secure with the above mentioned skills, it's time to move into place value. I love the video by Brain Pop Jr. It's a good introductory video. Blocks are a MUST to start with. Kids need concrete experiences when it comes to Math! I know a lot of you will ask about the containers I store my place value blocks in...these are from the Dollar Tree and I have had them for a LONG LONG time. They were 2 for $1.00. They have two sections, and hold 10's and 1's blocks perfectly. I am shocked with how well these have held up. I believe I have 25 containers and my second one cracked this year. Unbelievable how long they last! I found probably the same of similar containers online through Dollar Tree, but they are backordered. However, you can click HERE to grab a close match of the containers from Amazon (affiliate link). Anyway, back to the subject of place value! I always begin with letting kids explore and play with their blocks. Giving them time for this prior to starting a lesson allows them to get their curiosity out so they won't be tempted to play during instruction.

We use my place value mats to practice showing numbers. I love the simplicity of these and they help kids keep their desks organized while also having their Math workbooks or worksheets out. I also have "Giant Magnetic Place Value Blocks" by Learning Resources (affiliate link). Perfect for demonstrations on the board.

We practice place value with lots of games, including the "Base 10 Trading Game" and "Place Value Wander and Write." Wander and Write is differentiated!

As time goes on, we progress into a deeper understanding of place value, where we compare numbers and add and subtract two-digit numbers. I use my stuffed alligator (affiliate link) as an introduction to comparing numbers, along with a Jack Hartmann video and a Brain Pop Jr. video. A Cupcake for the Teacher has this cute alligator craft that my kids made this year. So fun!