Subitising/ Part-part-whole  Step 3

  • Where are they now?

    Recognises collections to 5 in less than 2 seconds without counting

  • Where to next?

    Consistently recognises collections to 6 or 7 in less than 2 seconds without counting.

  • And where are they now?

    Consistently recognises collections to 6 or 7 in less than 2 seconds without counting

  • Where to next?

    Consistently recognises collections to at least 10 without counting

  • Purpose

    When students associate mental images of dot patterns or collections of objects with numbers (either stated orally or written), they are more likely to understand that maths is about quantities and not just memorising word patterns.

Activities and Assessments

Subitising cards

Focus: Visualise and identify numbers to 10 and beyond as dot patterns or as the total made by groups of dot patterns.

How: Students work in pairs and take turns to ‘flash’ (show for about two seconds) the cards to each other. A thirty second timer can be used and the total of correct answers recorded (the total number of dots can be written on the back of the card to assist the person ‘flashing’). Students try to beat their previous scores. It is important that this is modelled by a teacher with the whole class at regular intervals and that students are given a chance to explain or discuss personal strategies.

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    Subitising cards

See-Say Bingo

Focus:Developing automaticity in identifying how many objects are in a collection – up to a total of 10

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    Bingo instructions

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    Bingo Cards

Subitising Probe Task

Diagnostic assessment task suitible for indiviual students or small groups

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    Subitising Probe task (instructions and BLMs)

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    Alternate layout for Set 5 (small cards)