Today we had a math lesson where we introduced the new number racks I purchased for the classroom. If you saw my previous math video, "The Tricky Teens", you will know about these and their importance. Each rod has 10 beads on it, 5 red and 5 white. It was really interesting when I asked students to show me numbers on the rack. If I asked them to show me 5, did they remember that they could just push all 5 of the red ones over? If I asked them to show me 6, could they push 5 over and then add one more? Did they have to count all over again, or could they count on from 5?
There are apps you can download on the iPad (search rekenrek) or you can make them out of cardboard, pipe cleaners, and beads. Number racks are great for kids to understand the following:
- when numbers get larger, so does the quantity
- understand the importance of 5 and 10 as benchmarks (i.e., instantly recognizing 5, pulling 2 more over and knowing that that's 7)
- different ways to compose numbers (1 and 9 make 10, so does 8 and 2, etc.)
- addition and subtraction
- more or less than
- place value (15 is actually 10 and 5 more)
There are so many things you can do with it, and it's really neat to see what kids do with them! I sat down with a group of students who wanted to sit with me and we explored the racks together. We were making numbers using one rod.
After I walked away, Olivia came up to me and showed me another way to show 2... one bead on the bottom and one on the top! Wow! Super powerful stuff!
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