Wherever this symbol
appears on the page, students should use the tools to demonstrate that their answer is correct. Your job is to look at their demonstrations, ask questions
to clarify or extend their understanding, and sign or initial on the line when you are satisfied. Encourage students to line up several demonstrations as
they wait for you to circulate to their desks, rather than setting up one and waiting. Students can work individually or in pairs.
Each type of question is shown below, with some suggestions for dealing with the demonstrations students offer.
Use the tools to show these numbers: Check that the student has represented the number correctly. For example, if the number to be shown is 105, ask questions such as: "How did you decide what to use to show the 1? The 5?" "How did you handle the 0?" In the beginning, students will be less able to articulate their thinking, but as they work, their ability to talk "math talk" will increase. Any kind of talking is acceptable and valuable. Anything they notice, any pattern they see, shows that they are noticing patterns and beginning to articulate them.
Ask someone to set up some numbers for you with the tools: The student must ask another student to set up the tools to show various numbers. You might give guidance about the difficulty of the questions, or just leave it to the students. You can sign off using questions similar to those above, or you can ask the student who set up the numbers to sign them off.
Put the decimal in these numbers: Explain what the decimal does: "The decimal separates the whole number from the part number." Why bother with the decimal at this stage? Because we want students to name what place various digits occupy in a number. Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, etc. are counted to the left of the decimal point, even if the decimal point is not written. Students will learn from this exercise that they can always put a decimal point in a number if they want it for any reason, and that the decimal point is always written to the right of the ones place.
Underline the digit in the ones place: These and the questions which follow (tens place, hundreds place, etc.) help students make the transition from using tools to show the size of various digits to becoming aware that in writing numbers it is the position of the digit that shows its size. Sometimes the answer to the question "What are we counting?" helps here. The digit in the tens place counts 10’s; the digit in the hundreds place counts 100’s.