A New Kind of Number Line
Have you seen a visual number line? A visual number line combines numerals with pictures to represent quantities.
What’s a Visual Number Line?
Including pictures in a visual number line provides a concrete representation of numbers. Students can see the quantity associated with each numeral. For example, when they see the number 42 with a picture of 4 tens and 2 ones, they can quickly grasp the concept of place value and the composition of the number.
The pictures accompanying numerals on the number line reinforce the concept of place value. Students can see that the position of a numeral represents its value within a number. For instance, the picture representing 35 shows 3 tens and 5 ones, emphasizing the importance of tens and ones in the number’s composition.
Ways to Use It in the Classroom
Students can also use this number line to explore other mathematical concepts, such as comparing and ordering numbers accurately. You can explain how the numbers get bigger as you go up in the number line. I would then relate it to addition and subtraction. When we add a number to another number, the sum will get bigger, versus with subtraction, the number will get smaller since we are moving back on the number line.
My favorite way to use this number line is to countdown (well, up!) to the 100th day of school. First, I get a picture of a bird and hot glue it on a paper clip. You can now clip it on the number that shows how many days you have been in school.
Let me know in the comments section how you would use this number line in your classroom.
Happy Teaching,
Tee
