Place value is a lot more than teaching a set of ordered names to be matched to a series of columns (100s, 10s and 1s). Teaching place value for deep understanding is fundamentally different to 'traditional' content. It includes ideas of magnitude based on informed visual patterns and fluent counting strategies, which leads to understanding the importance of equal-sized groups (unitizing) and 2, 5 and 10 as countable units.
This Early Place Value series aims to ensure your students have a strong foundation for their understanding of, flexibility and confidence with, place value. The indicators are based on the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics and cover the requirements for Foundation to Year 2 students.

The mental routines in this package will enable you to

• immerse students in the correct use of mathematical vocabulary matched to the topic (Early Place Value),
• plan for 3 levels of questioning: easy entry point, mid point or extra challenge,
• notice strengths and weaknesses and to plan focussed learning episodes immediately after the mental routine.

Target Strategies are created to keep the mental routine on track, fun, fast and pacey.

This module has three main components:

1. The Problematized Situations - there are 14 problematized situations, each on a separate slide, that can be displayed or printed for use by the students.
2. A Lesson Plan - giving a framework that can be used with any or all of the problematized situations.
3. The Support Materials include Anchor Charts for follow-up Strategy Lessons.

The key strategies covered in this module are:

1. Counting on and back (in rote counting and on the 120 grid).
2. Spotting 10s and showing numbers in many ways.
3. Finding the missing numbers (sometimes in tricky patterns).
4. Using an Empty Number Line (ENL).

The value of a number talk is the way in which it invites students to:

• stop, look and think about the numbers involved,
• create visual images for place value,
• explain patterns in number sequences,
• share thinking with peers; justifying, reasoning and arguing as they do so.

The roles that games play in the conceptual understanding of and fluency with place value is not to be underestimated. The games presented here allow students to:

• read, write and interpret numbers to 120,
• work with decade names and the additive property of place value,
• use counting on and back in 1s and 10s,
• compare, order and sequence numbers on a 120 grid and on an empty number line.

There are eight Assessment Activities in this module, and each activity has an associated lesson plan which includes:

• a list of resources needed for the activity,
• the prior experiences that students should have before you introduce the activity,
• an Observer's Guide and list of observable indicators ,
• suggestions for differentiation as needed.