Subitizing is ability to instantly see or recognize how many without counting. It helps develop fluency in number sense and it supports further understanding of more elaborate counting(e.g., skip counting) and addition/subtraction. Douglas Clements says in Subitizing: What Is It? Why Teach It?, “Students can use pattern recognition to discover essential properties of numbers, such as conservation and compensation. They can develop such capabilities as unitizing, counting on, and composing and decomposing numbers, as well as their understanding of arithmetic and place value—all valuable components of number sense.”
Subitizing Experiences
Our team has created some experiences that we project on our SMARTboard for whole group and small group instruction.
Roll and Stamp
We have projected this image this week and students rolled big dice and circled the number they rolled. We have also printed these off as mats that you can access here for free to roll dice and use a bingo dauber with. These mats are inspired by Deanna McLennan. Thanks Deanna!
Quick Images to 5
Quick Images to 5 can be accessed here. Students say the number when flashed on the SMARTboard or screen.
Quick Images to 10
Quick Images to 10 can be accessed here. Students say the number when flashed on the SMARTboard or screen.
Subitize and Benchmarks to 5 and 10
Subitize and Benchmarks to 5 and 10 can be accessed here. Gone is the day where educators were saying that counting on your fingers is not a good strategy. Students say the number when flashed on the SMARTboard or screen.
More or Less
More or Less can be accessed here. Students have an opportunity to subitize and provide reasoning for why one group has more or less than the other. Spatial thinking may be used to justify student thinking.
Make It More/Make It Less
Make It More/Make It Less can be accessed here. In this game children will not only subitize the number of dots, but determine how many more are needed to make it 5 or how many need to be taken away to make it 5.
Subitizing and Spatial Reasoning
Subtilizing and Spatial Reasoning can be accessed here. Guiding questions: How many? What shapes do you see? How do the shapes help your understanding of how many dots there are?
Which of These is Not Like the Others?
Which of These Is Not Like the Others can be accessed here. This experience supports learners in thinking about quantity and shape to support their understanding of how many.
Subitizing Songs
Music is such a fun way for children to engage and develop their understanding of subitizing. There are many songs on youtube that support learning of subitizing. We just love Jack Hartmann’s Subitize Up to 5 song on youtube. It’s such a fun way to sing and learn.
Subitizing Online Games
Doug Clements and Julie Sarama have created an awesome free website called Learning and Teaching with Learning Trajectories (LT2). Once you sign up there are some fun games to play that support the skill of subitizing. There are many other wonderful playful and experiential games the children can explore and you can check out when you’ve registered. Below we are sharing two of the games that our students are especially enjoying right now.
In this game children match subitizing cards like in the game concentration.
In this game children determine the number of dots in the dashboard and select the same number from the numerals above. As the children progress they get closer to the planet.
We’d love to hear about the subitizing experiences you have offered to your students that have been successful.
Happy subitizing!
inspired by play 