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Chances are you’ve seen a 100s chart in your child’s classroom. The 100s chart that has become a staple in every elementary school classroom is organized into rows and columns by 10s. Here are some ways that the 100s chart can help your child develop number sense (or the flexibility with which they manipulate numbers) and knowledge about place value. Both of these are incredibly important and can make or break a child’s experience with math.

All of these activities can be done with my 100s chart activities printout. Included are 19 pages of activities and instructions to get your child on the road to mathematical success!

Here are a few pictures of the activities in the free 100s chart activities print out!

(The for this print out is from: http://imlovinlit.com/)

I also recommend investing in a heavier duty 100s chart. There are two types. One is a poster, which is great! The other is a pocket chart 100s chart with cards. These cards have red and white sides. This is great because numbers can be made to stand out (for instance when learning to count by 10s). The cards can also be taken out, making it easy for children to practice putting them in order.

 
Counting

  1. Counting by 1s

Hang a 100s chart somewhere in your house. Refer to it and use it to start counting with your child. Just seeing the numbers and hearing them is great, especially for younger children.

  1. Counting by 10s

Starting in Kindergarten your child will need to know how to count by 10s. Highlight the 10s in the poster 100s chart with a marker or make all the 10s cards red (leaving the rest white) if you decided to go with the pocket chart 100s chart. Have students use this as a visual while learning to count by 10s. You can also explain to your child that, when counting by 10s, you are skipping over numbers.

  1. Counting by 5s.

Similarly you can do this when your child is learning to count by 5s in first grade or any skip counting that your child will need to memorize. Skip counting is when you count by any number that’s not 1. For instance skip counting by 2s would mean counting like this 2,4,6,8,10 etc. The more skip counting your child has memorized the easier multiplication will be in the 3rd grade.

Number Order

  1. Putting numbers in order.

If you can, get the pocket chart 100s chart, where each number is on it’s own card. There is a white side of the card and red side of the card. Take out all the cards and have your child work on putting the numbers in order (the best, most educative puzzle ever!). The younger your child is, the fewer cards you should give them. Start with the first 10 cards and show them how to put the cards into a pocket on the chart. Show children also where the 1 goes (in the first pocket). This is important because, eventually, your child should be able to put all the cards in order. Increase the number of cards you give your child by 10s as they become better and better at putting them in order.

If you don’t want to spend that much you can buy the printed poster version. Don’t be afraid to cut up your 100s chart. You can cut up the numbers by ones and have your child practice putting them in order on the floor or pasting them onto another paper.

  1. Counting one to one

You can also have the numbers already in order and have your child practice counting one to one while putting each individual card into its pocket or putting the numbers in order. This is not the same as counting by 1s because your child might be counting in order (1,2,3, etc.) and still be skipping over objects. One to one counting means that for every object that is counted a number named is assigned. In this case, the object is a card with a number on it. Again make sure that your child begins with 1 in the top left pocket.

  1. Discovering patters.

There is a logic to the 100s chart that make the patterns that numbers follow much easier to discern. First start by asking your child about the rows. How many numbers are in each row? (Possible answer: There are 10 numbers in each row). What changes every time a row is added? (Possible Answer: The first number, or the number in the tens place, increases by one, so 10 becomes 20, etc.). Look also across the rows, draw attention to the fact that the numbers in the 1s place follow the same order (i.e. 1,2,3,4, etc. follow the same pattern as 11,12,13,14, etc.).

Then ask students about the columns. Look at the first column on the left. Ask what is the same about the numbers in these columns (possible answer: all the numbers have 1 at the end). Ask about the 10s place and what changes (possible answer: the number in the 10s place goes up by 1, an example being 01,11,21,31,etc.).

Explain also to students that the first row has an invisible 0 in the 10s place.

Writing Numbers

  1. Writing numbers to 100

After understanding the patterns discussed in number 6, students should be able to write the numbers out from 1 to 100. If your child can write their numbers to 100 it demonstrates that they have memorized the pattern. Use the blank 100s chart in the print out to help them practice.

  1. Filling in the blank

Students should also be able to fill in the numbers that are missing from the 100s chart. Use the worksheet in the print out for this activity.

Understanding Place Value

  1. Groups of ones

Place value is based on groups of 10. Use the 100s chart print out and any small objects you have on hand. I like using dried beans (they are the best counters!). Place a bean on each number 1 through 10. Have students count how many beans there are in the first row. Ask students what happens to the numbers once they’ve created a group of 10 (possible answer: a 1 appears in the 10s place). Continue to count how many beans there are in each row. Ask students what happens to the numbers every time they add a bean (possible answer: the number goes up by 1).

  1. Groups of tens

Continue the activity described in number 9 by asking students how many groups of 10 there are in 100. Your child should discover that there are 10 groups of 10 in 100.

Hopefully these activities will help your child count and write numbers, and begin to develop an understanding of how numbers work. Understanding how numbers work will allow your child to succeed in math, guaranteed!