Are number lines a big deal in your district? They are huge in ours! And I LOVE it! We tie number lines in to almost every single concept we teach in math. It’s good stuff!
Because they are so big in our district, I wanted a way to incorporate number lines in to our spiral time every day. Something simple and quick!
So….I decided to use yarn and clothespins to create a number line across my board in the front of my classroom. Rather than just attaching numbers to a number line, I wanted the numbers to be attached in a way that I could take them off, move them around, etc. This is why I chose to use clothespins. I simply glued the cards to the clothespins with hot glue.
The number line is open at all times. There are always several numbers that are missing.
Before we begin our spiral time, I take down a few numbers when the kiddos are at lunch or recess. When they return, I tell them that the number line thief came to our room AGAIN and took numbers down. The kiddos have to clip the numbers on where they would go.
We build the missing numbers with coins and place value blocks. We also discuss numbers that are greater and less than the number we placed on the number line.
This has been such a great activity to incorporate in to our spiral time each day. The kiddos enjoy it. It has opened up lots of great conversations about numbers.
This is also a great math station. You can place the numbers you want the kiddos to place on the number line in a tub. You could also have a task card in the tub with what to do with that number after they found where it goes. The task card could say something like:
…build the number using coins
…build the number using place value blocks
…build a number that is 10 less than the number you placed on the number line
The possibilities are endless!
You can download the numbers here!