Teaching teen numbers can be tricky for young students. They often struggle with the concept of 'more than 10', parts of the whole and where to place the 1 (in front or behind). It can be hard to make maths interesting for kinder kids so here are 6 fun differentiated maths activities to introduce and reinforce teen numbers. 1. Kids love a puzzle and this one is no exception! Match the number to the symbol to the tens frame (look you've just shown me 3 ways to represent that teen number!). 2. "Show me 14!", "Now show me the two parts that make 14?", these flip and fold number strips allow all students to show they can tell you two parts of the whole. To differentiate this task for higher students give them two different parts of the teen number (6 and 7) and ask them to show you the number. 3. A fun whole class activity, first to 20! Put students into two groups (boys or girls works best) and place the numbers on the floor (another opportunity to count as a class and sometimes you can be sneaky and leave a number out to see if they notice!). Then roll a dice and race to 20! Higher students could race to 50 or even 100 (use chalk to extend the line out). 4. Tens frames and flip cards work great as a maths rotation as students can easily test each other in pairs. Higher students should try and use the non-numeral cards to see if they can read the word. Additional activities can involve a timer, race to see who can show that number first! 5. My students love a craftivity and this butterfly doubled as a formative assessment tool. Students pick a number between 11 and 19 and then must represent the two parts in as many different ways they can. Cut and hang in the classroom for a fun display. 6. Flash cards with matching tens frames make useful visuals around the room I print, laminate and attach magnets to the back of mine so I can throw them on the to board at a moments notice and call out "Show me fourteen!". Use with whiteboards and pens for a quick formative assessment tool. These 6 products are available now at the TechTeacherPto3 TPT store.
