We’re Going on a Number Hunt (Large Group)
Purpose: Gain facility in discriminating between numerals and letters
Description: Students hunt for numerals while distinguishing between a numeral and letter.
Materials
- Pre-made sticky notes
What To Say and Do
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1
To prepare for this activity, create sticky notes with letters and numerals written on them. Place the sticky notes around the room where students will be able to access them when it is time for the hunt.
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2
Facilitate a discussion around the differences between letters and numerals. Use prompts such as:
- (Display a letter or a number) Is this a letter or a number?
- How do you know if what you are seeing is a number? … a letter? How can you check?
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3
Inform the students they will be going on a number hunt collecting sticky notes that have been posted around the room.
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4
After all students have two sticky notes, have students pair up and discuss their sticky notes and determine if they found only numerals.
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5
Bring students back for a whole group discussion and debrief their findings. Have them share their findings by placing their sticky notes in a graphic organizer (e.g., a board or chart paper to create a place where all numbers and letters can be displayed as a visual sort) then discuss how they decided the note was a numeral.
Variations
To reduce the possible choices of numbers, use only numerals 1-5.
Students may notice the sticky notes are categorized by color. Challenge students by repeating the activity using all notes of the same color.
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