Number: Taking handfuls
View Sequence overviewWe can determine quantity without counting by seeing small collections at a glance.
The same quantity can be arranged in different ways without changing the total in the collection.
Each pair
A collection of counters
A 6-sided die with the numbers 9-14 marked on it
Each student
Rolling Handfuls Student sheet
Build
Reflect on the previous task with the students.
Revise: We learnt that organising a collection makes it easier to count. We also learnt that some ways of arranging collections makes it easy to see how many there are without needing to count.
Discuss with the students how they arranged their handfuls to make it easy to see how many items they had.
Show students how to play Rolling Handfuls in pairs:
- Students take turns rolling a die with the numbers 9-14 marked on it.
- Both students collect the number of counters shown on the die. These are their ‘handfuls’.
- Each student arranges their collection to make it easy to see how many counters there are altogether.
- Students compare their arrangements. They look at how the arrangements are similar and different, and make sure that both arrangements have the same number of counters.
- Students record the two different ways of arranging the handfuls on their student sheet. If they both arranged the counters the same way, they only record the arrangement once.
Explain: Some ways of arranging collections means that we can work out how many at a glance. We don't need to count! Even though collections might be arranged differently, they can still have the same amount.
Selecting the numbers on the die
This task uses a die marked with the numbers 9-14. Why have these numbers been chosen?
In the previous task we included a professional learning excerpt that explained the difference between perceptual and conceptual subitising. Perceptual subitising is the instant recognition of numbers up to 5 without counting. Conceptual subitising is where numbers are recognised in terms of their subitisable parts.
This purpose of this task and the previous task is to build students’ conceptual subitising skills. To do this, they need to be working with numbers that are larger than 5, and so we chose to use dice marked with the numbers 9 to 14. As students arrange their ‘handful’, they continue to explore and build their knowledge of part-part-whole relationships for numbers 9 to 14.
This task uses a die marked with the numbers 9-14. Why have these numbers been chosen?
In the previous task we included a professional learning excerpt that explained the difference between perceptual and conceptual subitising. Perceptual subitising is the instant recognition of numbers up to 5 without counting. Conceptual subitising is where numbers are recognised in terms of their subitisable parts.
This purpose of this task and the previous task is to build students’ conceptual subitising skills. To do this, they need to be working with numbers that are larger than 5, and so we chose to use dice marked with the numbers 9 to 14. As students arrange their ‘handful’, they continue to explore and build their knowledge of part-part-whole relationships for numbers 9 to 14.