ESL Teaching Activities Using the 100 Chart

Interactive Strategies Increase Math Vocabulary and Understanding

Aug 27, 2009

These tips and suggestions for using the 100 chart focus on ways k-3 teachers can help ESL students build math vocabulary and strengthen their number sense.

Many key math vocabulary words are positional or abstract and easily confuse English language learners. Math vocabulary is best taught in an interactive context. The hundreds pocket chart provides one vibrant context for learning new words and phrases related to numbers and number sense.

Math Vocabulary Related to the Hundreds Number Chart

A variety of words and phrases are used to express number relationships and are well illustrated using the hundreds chart. It's important that all children understand these concepts, but it is especially important to focus on English language learners. Some ESL students may understand the following concepts in their first language. Others may just be learning these math concepts as they are learning to speak English.

Strategies for Helping ELLs Build Vocabulary Using a Hundreds Pocket Chart

Students can work as a whole class, in small groups, or individually interacting with the hundreds chart to learn and practice using key math vocabulary related to number relationships. Students will most enjoy the exercises suggested below if they can actually handle the number cards, removing them, ordering them, sorting them, and placing them onto the chart in their correct positions.

Larger/smaller than: remove two random number cards. Ask students which is larger/smaller. Ask how they know. Challenge students to put the number cards back in their correct places. Alternative: ask students to find a number that is greater/less than a given number.

Number before/after/between: ask students to locate the number that comes right before/right after a given number; etc. Extend the activities by asking for a number that comes two (or three) numbers before/after a given number. Challenge students to find the number that comes between any two given numbers.

Count up/back from: the teacher or a student calls out a number on the hundreds chart. Students count up from that number to the end of the next row, or count back from that number to the beginning of the preceding row.

Counting by (2s, 5s, 10s, etc): numbers can be flipped over or highlighted to scaffold skip counting.

Odd/even numbers: challenge students to remove any number (beginning with two) that can be divided into two equal groups.(They may need manipulative such as Unifix cubes to problem solve this.) Explain that these are the even numbers; what are left are the odd numbers. Skip count the odd numbers. Reverse the process, challenging students to remove numbers that cannot be divided into two equal groups (the odd numbers) and skip count the remaining even numbers.

Numbers ending in: Challenge students to remove all the numbers ending in 4 (or any other given number).

One digit/two digit numbers: Identify and count the one digit numbers that are on the hundreds chart; identify and count the two digit numbers; identify the three digit number. Ask how many digits the number that comes after 100 will have.

Columns, rows, diagonal: Ask individual students to remove or mark all the number cards in the first (second or third, etc) row or column. Ask what they notice about those numbers. Identify and remove or mark various diagonal rows. Discuss what they notice about those numbers.

ESL students learn new vocabulary best when it is used in a high interest context. Regular, even daily, practice using the strategies listed above or variations, will help English language learners go beyond memorization and actually assimilate the words into their schema base for math.

The copyright of the article ESL Teaching Activities Using the 100 Chart in ESL Programs/Lessons is owned by Margaret M. Williams. Permission to republish ESL Teaching Activities Using the 100 Chart in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.