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Number Sense and Place Value

Number Sense and Place Value

This feature aims to support you in developing children's number sense and their understanding of place value. The first three articles unpick the ideas associated with these important areas of mathematics and outline relevant research. The fourth article links to a range of tasks and our rationale for choosing them. You can see the tasks themselves, which we have grouped into five categories, by scrolling down further.

Early Number Sense 
Age 3 to 11

This article explores the basic foundations of number sense and outlines relevant research in this area.

Place Value: the Ten-ness of Ten 
Age 3 to 11

This article develops the idea of 'ten-ness' as an important element of place value.

Place Value as a Building Block for Developing Fluency in the Calculation Process 
Age 5 to 11

This article for primary teachers encourages exploration of two fundamental ideas, exchange and 'unitising', which will help children become more fluent when calculating.

How Can I Support the Development of Early Number Sense and Place Value? 
Age 3 to 11

This article for primary teachers expands on the key ideas which underpin early number sense and place value, and suggests activities to support learners as they get to grips with these ideas.

Early Number Sense 
Age 5 to 7

These activities will help children develop a strong sense of number.

Ten-ness of Ten 
Age 5 to 7

These tasks will help children understand the 'ten-ness' of ten, a fundamental part of place value.

Ordering 
Age 5 to 11

This set of activities focuses on ordering, an important aspect of place value.

Position 
Age 5 to 11

One of the key ideas associated with place value is that the position of a digit affects its value. These activities support children in understanding this idea.

Amount 
Age 5 to 11

These tasks will help learners develop their understanding of place value, particularly giving them opportunities to express numbers as amounts.

Related

  • More Activities on Number Sense and Place Value
  • A Story about Absolutely Nothing
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The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice.

NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.

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