Place value within 10 - Comparing activity - Planning

In Year 1, during the third week of the Autumn term, students focus on place value with a particular emphasis on comparing numbers within 10. The lesson begins with a starter activity where children are shown a card with a number represented in various forms, such as a numeral, word, or image. They are asked to identify the number that is one more than the one shown and to represent this on a number track. This activity serves to recap previous learning, where students have been using terms like 'equal to', 'more', 'less', 'greater than', 'fewer', and 'less than' to compare groups of objects.

The class teaching input involves a practical activity introducing inequality symbols, which while compulsory in Year 2, are beneficial to introduce in Year 1 when working with smaller numbers and concrete materials like cubes. Children work in pairs, using full sentences to explain their reasoning, and discuss the meaning of symbols such as 'equal to', 'greater than', and 'less than'. The practical activity requires children to use laminated cards with statements using inequality or equals symbols to count out the correct number of cubes. Some cards may be intentionally incorrect, challenging children to identify and correct the mistakes. Key questions encourage students to prove their understanding of the symbols and their ability to compare different amounts. The lesson concludes with a reflection on what the students have learned, the skills they used, and any challenges they faced, ensuring a clear understanding of the concept before moving on to symbolic representations.