Teaching Numbers Effectively: Part 2
Activities to incorporate number instruction throughout your curriculum
“A deep level of comfort only occurs when students are immersed in the numbers and practice repeatedly.”
In my Teaching Numbers Effectively: Part 1 blog post, I shared the sad story of my 18 year old daughter who, despite her many accomplishments, is still very shaky on her Spanish numbers after 6 years of classroom study. I discussed why this problem is so common among world language students.
World language learners really need to have the numbers easily on the tip of their tongue. This level of comfort only occurs when students are immersed in the numbers and practice repeatedly. I like to incorporate regular number practice at every level of language study, and I’m always looking for interesting ways to review and practice this critical content. Here are a few ideas I’ve used successfully in my classroom:
Phone numbers:
Have students tell each other their phone numbers. Have them make up imaginary phone numbers to dictate and record to each other. Create a list of (fake) phone numbers for celebrities or teachers at your school - divide the list in half and have partners read the celebrity numbers to each other. Click to access my free fake phone list, including versions formatted for French and Spanish (Spain) phone numbers.
Variation in Sequencing:
Practice counting backwards and skip counting by 2’s, 3’s, 5’s, and 10’s.
Dot-to-dots:
Click the image to access a free 0-10 dot to dot activity
Instead of sequential numbers, label dot to dots with random numbers. Students must listen as you read the sequence aloud to connect the dots. Or, give pairs of students complementary dot to dots to read to each other. This is a great 15-minute time filler for any level of language classes. Check out this link to my randomized dot-to-dots for numbers 0-20, 0-65, and 0-100 on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Bingo:
You may already use bingo for number practice. In my experience, it’s a crowd pleaser! As students gain proficiency, here are a few twists on this classic game.
Virtual bingo - Here’s a link to myfreebingocards.com which lets you generate 30 free cards to play bingo with online or blended classes.
Small group bingo: Students take turns being the bingo caller for 3-5 classmates. You can give students numbers to pull from an envelope or use the online bingo site above
Clock time bingo: Give students this blank clock time bingo card and ask them to write in clock times ending in 0 (i.e., 12:00, 12:10, 12:20, etc.) Cut up a list of all possible times for the caller to draw from an envelope. (Thanks to my colleague David Lovin for this idea!)
Bingo with numbers in the hundreds or thousands: To limit the possible numbers for a higher number game, take a regular set of bingo cards and add a digit in each column. For example, add ‘5’ to all the numbers in the “B” column, add 8 to all the numbers in the “I” column, etc.
Original New
B I B I
16 28 165 288
11 24 115 248
9 25 95 258
19 23 195 238
12 27 125 278
This keeps the same number of available numbers to call, but adds the challenge of higher numbers.
Prices and Currency
Any time students encounter prices or currency, take the opportunity to practice reading the numbers aloud. Teach students vocabulary related to currency, including words such as “Euros” “pesos” and “dollars” as well as how to reference decimals and cents.
Bargaining
In large areas of the world, bargaining to settle prices is a daily activity. Learning about bargaining is a great way to practice numbers while incorporating culture.
Number Shuffle
“This is a quick, low-prep activity that incorporates physical movement and gives students a quick speaking / listening review and practice.”
This is a very simple activity, but it’s an effective quick practice for upper levels. Write three or four digit numbers on a set of 3x5 cards. Pass out a few cards to each student. Students walk around the room, find a partner, and read their numbers aloud while the partner writes the numbers down. Exchange roles. Then trade cards and repeat with a new partner. This is a quick, low-prep activity that incorporates physical movement and gives students a quick speaking / listening review and practice.
Addition and Subtraction flashcards
This is another simple activity that works well as a center. Purchase a set of addition and subtraction flashcards and have students drill each other in pairs. They must read out the entire card in the target language (i.e. “two plus seven equals nine”). This is a good chance to teach and use common math vocabulary (plus, minus, equals).
Recipes
There are lots of recipe tutorial videos available online. These videos are high-context and give students listening practice for fractions, weights, and measurements. Have students fill in the amounts for each ingredient as they listen.
Online games
There are a lot of online number games for world language. One site I like is wordwall.net which has dozens of templates for matching exercises and sorts, perfect for vocabulary. The site has a “community” section where you can use games created by other teachers for free. For a small monthly subscription, you can create your own games and keep track of student activity. There are a lot of cute templates for all sorts of vocabulary drill and practice in addition to numbers.
Short, regular practice
Research shows that short, regular practice sessions are more effective than long ones. Make number practice a priority, and practice regularly - at least once a week - in all levels of your world language classes. Your students will benefit as their number fluency deepens.
“Make number practice a priority, and practice regularly in all levels of world language classes”
I wish my daughter had regularly practiced the numbers throughout her 6 years of Spanish study. Maybe this summer, before she leaves for college, I can convince her to practice a little each day so her Spanish will be a more useful, natural skill.
I’m ALWAYS looking for ways to incorporate more number practice into my classes. Do you have a great activity? Share below!
