Numeral, word, dots, ten frame, tally: matching the five faces of a number

A four-year-old at our table counted seven blocks perfectly, then looked at a ten frame with seven dots and had no idea what it was. Nobody had told her it was a picture of a number. Counting and reading numbers in their various forms are different skills, and the second one is mostly a matter of exposure.

What the sheet looks like

The number representations worksheet shows each number up to five ways: the numeral, the word, a scatter of dots, a ten frame and tally marks. The Match activity puts numerals on one side and pictures on the other for the child to join with lines, with 4 to 8 numbers per page. Sort prints tiles to cut out and paste into three numbered jars. Table gives a grid with the numeral in the first column and empty cells for the other representations, 4 to 6 rows. Ranges are 1 to 5, 1 to 10 or 11 to 20, and an answer key is optional.

Why it works

• Seeing 6, six, a ten frame with six shaded and a tally of five and one all on one page is what builds the idea that a number is one thing with many pictures.
• The Sort activity is physical. Cutting and pasting slows the child down enough to actually count the dots instead of guessing from the shape of the group.
• The Table flips the task. Instead of recognizing a representation, the child has to produce one, which is a different and harder skill.

Who it suits

The 1–5 range with Match is a real pre-K sheet. 1–10 is kindergarten, and 11–20 is for late kindergarten or grade 1, when ten frames with a full top row start to make sense. If a child has never seen a ten frame before, do a page of the ten frames worksheet first so the layout is familiar. The Table activity with 11–20 is as hard as this tool gets.

Print the Sort version with scissors nearby. It is the one that gets finished.