Developing Number Sense
Spot On With Numbers helps to develop number sense by allowing children to make numbers in a way that is meaningful to them. Children gain number sense through making numbers, subitising quantities, seeing numbers within numbers and developing relationships between numbers. Through using the resources, children should eventually be able to see, without counting, any quantity made with the pegs and boards. This is done through starting with smaller numbers, ensuring these are instantly recognisable and then slowly building up to recognising larger numbers.
When children are first given the pegs and boards, they should first be encouraged to play with the resource.
Encourage them to make patterns.
What do they see? What do they notice?
Each Spot On With Numbers’ visual for numbers greater than 5 uses a ‘5 and a bit’ model, which gives a starting point for the number bonds to 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. At first, children may need to count on from 5 to know the total, but through exploration and practice, they should get to the point of instantly recognising and being able to show an all at once finger pattern for numbers larger than five.
Making and Seeing numbers within numbers
Often known as the 45 sight facts, the first step in helping children develop number sense is to guide them to understand how numbers decompose (break up) and recompose (combine) by making numbers and noticing the numbers that make up a number.
Addition is commutative, so there are not really 45 facts to ‘learn’ as long as the child knows that, for example 4 + 2 = 2 + 4 (see below).
Children can make the numbers across two boards and see how, for example the number 6 can be made of 5 + 1, 4 + 2 or 3 + 3. Each pattern can also be linked to the fingers, represented as a picture and spoken, for example “four add two equals six”.
FACT FAMILIES for 4 + 2 = 6
Swap the boards around and explore commutativity: 2 + 4 = 6
remove one of the boards and notice: 6 - 2 = 4 or 6 - 4 = 2
Record these fact families:
4 + 2 = 6
2 + 4 = 6
6 - 2 = 4
6 - 4 = 2
The video shows the fact families to 10 using the pegs and boards and transparent cards.