Place value - Thousands - Starter

During the Autumn Term of Year 4, students encounter a series of engaging starter activities in Week 2 that are designed to strengthen their understanding of place value, specifically focusing on the concept of thousands. The "Fluent in Four" revision section is a key part of this, where students are tasked with a variety of calculations aimed at reinforcing their numerical skills. For example, they may be asked to add together two numbers, such as 29 and 34, or to combine quantities expressed in tens and ones, like 2 tens and 15 ones with 4 tens and 17 ones. These exercises not only help students practice addition but also encourage them to recognise and work with different representations of numbers.

Another aspect of the starters involves matching numbers to their correct representations, further enhancing students' grasp of place value. They might be presented with a number, such as nine tens and six ones, and asked to identify its equivalent from a selection of options. Additionally, rounding exercises are included, where students must round a given start number to the nearest hundred, thereby developing their estimation skills. Group activities, such as finding the total number of cookies in different groups, make the learning process interactive and enjoyable. These tasks are carefully structured to build a solid foundation in place value, which is crucial for their mathematical development.