Place Value: 'ones', 'tens', 'hundreds' is a four-week programme for students having difficulty understanding and using place value: 'ones', 'tens', and 'hundreds'. They don't 'get' how numbers work or 'see' the patterns and structures underpinning our Base 10 number system. The programme focuses on building confidence and developing understanding of this key maths ideas. Teacher aides lead this programme, with support and guidance from classroom teachers.
Each day students work on three specifically designed activities as many times as possible in two 10-minute blocks of time, led by the teacher aide. Monday is introduction and training day with the activities repeated multiple times each day, and in doing so building confidence and developing understanding. Teacher aides are to capture the student's improvement in each activity from the start of the week to the end of the week. Repeating activities until students are confident and can complete the activity easily, and successfully, is a key aspect of this programme. Making sure students know they are improving is also vital, and a key role for teacher aides.
Alongside this is a teaching focus of a key maths idea for the classroom teacher to directly teach each week. We suggest at least three 10-minutes teaching sessions within the week to make sure each student fully and clearly understands the key maths idea for the week.
This programme is not designed to be the whole maths for the students involved, rather the activities becoming part of the student's regular maths programme, replacing part of what they would normally be doing. It has been designed to take place within classrooms and for two students per teacher aide. Initially the teacher aide and students work together on an activity, progressing to the teacher aide stepping back with the two students working on the activity independently.
No programme will suit every student or classroom situation. Therefore teachers are encouraged to adjust the programme to specifically fit each student, teacher aide and classroom situation. We are able to offer support and advice to do this. To access this, please fill in the form on our Contact page and we will email back, set up a Zoom or phone meeting as needed.