MA 2.02Large Numeral Cards

1. 1

   Lay out cards 1, 10, 100, and 1000 in a row on the rug.

2. 2

   Point to each: 'This is one unit… one ten… one hundred… one thousand.' Have the child count the zeros on each card.

3. 3

   Three-period lesson with the four cards.

4. 4

   In a later lesson, lay out the full set in columns, thousands on the left and units on the right, and read down each column: 'one ten, two tens, three tens…'.

5. 5

   Give the usual names for the tens after the category names: 'three tens, we say thirty'.

6. 6

   Three-period lesson across categories with the same digit (3, 30, 300, 3000).

7. 7

   Mix the cards and have the child rebuild the columns.

What catches the child’s eye

• Counting the zeros on each card: one, two, three
• The colored columns: green units, blue tens, red hundreds, green thousands

Extensions, easiest to hardest

1. Child reads any card chosen at random.
2. Guide names a number ('four hundred'); the child finds the card.
3. Child lays out the full set from a mixed pile.