What each digit is worth
In 352 the 3 is worth three hundred, not three. Seeing that, and writing it, is the base of adding and subtracting with bigger numbers, regrouping included. These sheets go from counting blocks to writing numbers in expanded form, one small step at a time.
Three tasks
- Blocks. Count the flats, rods and cubes, then write the number.
- Tens and ones. 47 = 4 tens 7 ones; 352 = 3 hundreds 5 tens 2 ones.
- Expanded form. 352 = 300 + 50 + 2.
Next steps
Once place value is secure, move on to two-digit addition andsubtraction with regrouping.
Curriculum links in England
- Year 1Pupils count, read and write numbers to 100 and represent them with objects and pictures.
- Year 2Children recognise the place value of each digit in a two-digit number and partition numbers in different ways.
- Year 3Place value extends to three-digit numbers: hundreds, tens and ones.
- Year 4Four-digit numbers, with thousands, follow.
In England the three-digit work on this page belongs to Year 3 rather than Year 2, so give Year 2 the two-digit sheets. Classes usually call the blocks Dienes or base 10, and many also use place value counters.
The Year 2 guidance adds partitioning in more than one way: 47 is 40 + 7, but it is also 30 + 17. The sheets show the standard split, so add the second version in discussion, since it is the idea behind exchanging in column subtraction.
Summarised in our own words from the National Curriculum in England: mathematics programmes of study (DfE).
