Let’s Compare! Place Value Disks & Three-Digit Numbers

Beginning

• Have students say each three-digit number aloud in English and their L1.
• Allow students access to the place value disks to create the numbers alongside the teacher.

Intermediate

• Provide students with sentence frames to compare the numbers, such as:
  • ____ is greater than ____. I know this because ____.
  • ____ is less than ____. I know this because ____.
  • ____ is equal to ____. I know this because ____.

Beginning

• Write down the number name of 251 and guide students to read two hundred fifty one aloud.
• Explain that fifteen and fifty sound the same. Emphasize the "ee" in fifty and say, "Fifty is five tens." Have students repeat after you. Clarify that fifteen is a ten and five ones.

Intermediate

• Have students turn and talk to a partner, comparing their answers. Provide sentence frames for students to support their conversations (e.g. 251 has ____ ones, ____ tens, and ____ hundreds).

Beginning

• Provide students with five notecards with the numbers on the front and the number names on the back. Instruct students to construct the numbers one at a time with the place value disks.
• Allow students to work with peers who speak the same L1 or in a small, teacher-led group.

Intermediate

• Write the following information on the whiteboard for students to refer to throughout guided practice: > greater than, = equal to, < less than. Draw teeth on the greater than and less than symbols to support student understanding and increase student engagement.