Bundle it up
Every day we add one straw to a cup and count the days of school. When we hit 10, we rubber-band a bundle and move it to the tens cup. By day 47 kids can see 4 bundles and 7 loose straws, and writing 47 makes total sense. Then they practice the same thing with base ten blocks on paper.
Why it works: the U.S. Department of Education's guide for teaching elementary math recommends moving from hands-on objects to drawings to numbers.
Try it withUsing Base 10 Blocks to Write Numbers WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →























