Displaying Numbers This book introduces three methods of displaying numbers in patterns: the five frame, the ten frame and the ten strip. Placing counters in a frame helps students use pattern recognition rather than counting to see ‘how many’: a skill known as ‘conceptual subitising’. Conceptual subitising helps students move from counting to using part-whole understandings to calculate.
Five Frames The five frame highlights number combinations to five.
Ten Frames The ten frame can show combinations of ten, odd and even numbers, and ‘how many’ from the benchmarks of five and ten depending on how it is filled, explained more thoroughly in the following section. Ten frames can be displayed horizontally or vertically. Multiple ten frames can also show place-value partitions of larger numbers, e.g. 17 as 10 + 7.
Ten Strips The ten strip builds upon the ten frame understandings by showing numbers as a linear strip, which shows magnitude (value) more clearly and aids comparison. Since the primary value of all of these representations is in reducing reliance on counting and encouraging calculating, it is important that time is spent building fluency so that students are not needing to count ‘how many’ when working with the chosen representation, especially for ten frames and ten strips. For example, before students are instructed in how to use ten frames for doubling, they should be able to recognise ‘how many’ are in the frame without counting.
© P. Swan
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Teaching with Ten Frames