Hundred charts can be a very powerful tool to help students with the concept of number. Many teachers classically use them during their calendar or ‘focus wall’ time, but there are so many more ways to use them throughout the day to help students take ownership over their learning.
1. Use Pocket Chart Hundred Charts
Over the years, I have rarely walked into a primary classroom that does not have a pocket chart hundred chart. This is the classic way that we see hundred charts being used, especially during calendar or focus wall time. Here are just a few of the many ways you can use them:
Keeping Track of the Number of Days in School
Students can add one number card a day to keep track of how many days they’ve been in school.
Noticing Patterns in Numbers
Once students have added enough numbers in the hundred chart, you can start some discussions on the patterns they see in the numbers. One student might notice that all of the numbers in each column have the same number ‘at the end’, while another student may notice that the numbers ‘go in order; 1, 2, 3, 4’ when you move diagonally across the hundred chart. These discussions about patterns really solidify the concept of number for students, and will help them later on in their math journey.
Skip Counting
Once the hundred chart is full (or at least half full), students can practice skip counting. Many hundred chart pocket charts come with cards that are different colors for just that. Skip counting by 5’s typically come in blue, 2’s in pink and 3’s in green. Depending on the grade that you teach, you will want to start with the easiest form of skip coutnting (by 10’s) and move up. To skip count by 10’s, use the blue cards, and just leave out the numbers that end in 5.
Games
There are so many games that can be played using a paper hundred chart. When it is in a pocket chart, one favorite is: “Which Numbers are Missing?”. In this game, students close their eyes while the teacher (or another student) flips some number cards around. When the students open their eyes, they have to use their concept of number and hundred chart knowledge to guess which numbers are ‘missing’. I’m tellin’ ya, engagement is high on this one!
2. Modify Hundred Charts Based on Standards
Knowing your standards will help you base which hundred chart your students will be working with. Following the Common Core State Standards:
Kindergarten- 100 Chart
This is the easy one. Hundred charts come with 100 numbers. Check!
First Grade- 120 Chart
With this ‘hundred’ chart, you’ll either have to make your own by making a table that is 12 rows long rather than 10, and fill in the extra numbers accordingly, or you can find premade 120 charts.
Second Grade- 200 Chart
Just copy the 100 chart back-to-back with a chart that goes from 101-200. She the link above for a free version!
3. Highlight Paper Hundred Charts
Kids love to use highlighters. Seriously. Change out a yellow one for a pink or blue and you’ll think they’ve won the lottery. Using highlighters on a hundred chart is so versatile. You can do many different ways.
Remember all of the activities mentioned above for pocket chart hundred charts? Well those can be done with a highlighter on a paper hundred chart. Students can highlight while skip counting and by finding patterns that they notice. They can even use different colored highlighters for different patterns or types of skip counting. Give them some sticky notes and they can also play, “Which number is missing?”.
Want them to use it for adding or subtracting? Easy. Highlight the first number, count up or down the hundred chart, and highlight the answer. Check out this post on Using Highlighters in Math for other ideas.
4. Use Hundred Charts in Privacy Folders
Privacy folders are a great way to minimize distractions for students while they are taking an assessment. For students who need scaffolds, have accomodations on the IEP’s or even to just support any of your developing learners, glue a hundred chart on the inside of their privacy folder. How you’ve taught them to use it during your Math instruction will guide how they use it to show their knowledge during an assessment.
5. Use Hundred Charts During Independent Math Centers
Finding ways for students to be independent during Math center time, while not innondating them with worksheets or packets can prove to be a challenge. Hundred chart games during centers can be a life saver! This post on Math Center Games Using Hundred Charts has some fun, hands-on ideas!
*Don’t Forget to Teach Other Strategies*
As with anything you do in teaching, make sure students are learning other strategies to be successful. While hundred charts are great learning tools and scaffolds, we don’t want students to become too dependent on them. Plus, in the upper grades, they cannot be used during high stakes tests like the SBAC or the PARCC.
Have students who have already met the standard you are teaching?