Series: Focus on the Child
Place Value: Meaning of the Digits with Child 14
This second grader has uncertainty about the meaning of the digits. He is working to construct the understanding that place determines the value of a number. Teaching place value to second graders (and in other grades) is a complex but important task.
Focus on the Child videos are taken from one-on-one interviews with individual children. The interviews are designed to elicit evidence of children’s mathematical thinking. They are not teaching episodes or formal assessments.
Why is this important?
This second grader easily counts out 26 cubes and records the amount as a numeral. Yet, further questions reveal only partial understanding of place value, which is common for many first- and second-graders.
