The big ideaLook hard at the frame, then picture it. Read the rows from the top.
How it works
Look hard at the frame, then shut your eyes and picture it.
A mind picture keeps the same order: the bottom row counts ones, the row above counts tens and the row above that counts hundreds.
Read the rows from the top and say each one, even an empty row.
An empty row is a zero: 105 is one hundred, no tens and five ones.
How to picture a frame.105: the empty middle row is a zero.
Example 1: Picture 26
Look at the frame: two beads on the tens row and six on the ones row.
Shut your eyes and see it.
Two tens and six ones make 26.
Open your eyes and check.
Example 2: Ben's puzzle
Picture four beads on the tens row and nine on the ones row.
Say the tens, then the ones: four tens and nine ones.
The number is 49.
49: four tens and nine ones.
Example 3: A hidden frame
A guide shows a frame for three seconds, then hides it.
In your mind there are three beads across on the hundreds row.
There is one on the tens row and eight on the ones row.
Three hundreds, one ten and eight ones make 318.
318, pictured after three seconds.
Example 4: A zero in the picture
Picture 105: one bead on the hundreds row.
The tens row is empty, a zero, so say it.
Five beads on the ones row.
Skip the zero and you would see 15.
Example 5: Build from a sum
Picture 200 + 40 + 6.
Two beads on the hundreds row, four on the tens row and six on the ones row.
Each row holds its own place: 200 + 40 + 6 = 246.
246, built from 200 + 40 + 6.
Words to know
mind picture
The frame you see with your eyes shut.
place
A row of the frame: ones, tens or hundreds.
zero
An empty row. Say it too.
picture
See the frame in your head and name each row from the top.
Watch out
Say every row, even the empty one.
Start at the top, with the biggest place.
Seven beads on the tens row are seventy, not seven and not seventy-seven.
Check your picture against a real frame or a drawing.
Try it
Picture seven beads on the tens row and none on the ones row. Which number?
Picture sixty-one. How many beads are on the ones row?
Picture three beads on the hundreds row, none on the tens row and four on the ones row. Which number?
Which row is above the tens row?
Answers: 1. 70 · 2. One · 3. 304 · 4. The hundreds row
Try at homeAsk a grown-up to say a number up to ninety-nine, like thirty-six. Close your eyes and picture the frame. Say how many beads are across on the tens row and on the ones row. Then draw the frame on paper to check. Swap turns!
For grown-upsSay a number up to ninety-nine, like thirty-six. Your child shuts their eyes, pictures the frame and says how many beads are across on each row, then draws it on paper to check. Swap turns.
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