Interactive place value chart

What the interactive place value chart does on screen

It opens on Thousands to Ones with 1342 already built, so there is something to talk about straight away. Each column has its own colour, its name and its value.

• Counters. The + under a column drops one in, and tapping a counter, or pressing −, takes one away. The big digit above the column says how many, so ten counters show a 10 rather than quietly carrying.
• Dragging a counter. Drop one on the column to its right and it bursts into ten. Drop one on the column to its left and, if there are ten to work with, they gather into one. Any other drop snaps back and a line under the chart says what was missing.
• Exchange and Auto. Once a column holds ten or more, an Exchange button appears in it and swaps ten for one on the left. Auto does that for you the moment a column reaches ten.
• Times and divide. Six buttons, ten, a hundred and a thousand each way. The row you built stays put and the answer appears below it, labelled. Clear answers takes the extra rows away.
• How wide the chart is. Bigger adds columns up to millions, Decimals adds tenths, hundredths and thousandths.
• The readout. Under the chart the bottom row is written in figures, partitioned as 1000 + 300 + 40 + 2, and in words. Show number turns that off, Reset puts the chart back to 1342, and Print gives one A4 landscape picture of the board.

How to use it in a lesson

Decide first whether the lesson is about building a number or moving one, because the chart does both and they get in each other's way.

1. Set the columns first. Take away the ones you are not using. A Year 2 chart with millions on it is just noise.
2. Leave Auto off while exchanging is the lesson. Add counters to the ones and stop at nine. Ask what happens next, then let a child drag the ten up into the next column.
3. Send someone the other way. Drag a hundred counter down into the tens and it bursts into ten. That is the move column subtraction depends on.
4. Turn Show number off before you ask anything. If the answer is under the chart, that is what gets read out. Take the figures and the words from the class first, then turn it back on to check.
5. Predict, then press times 10. Where will the 3 be? The old row stays put, so you can point at both.
6. Print the board for the ones who need it in front of them.

Ideas by year group

• Year 1. Tens and Ones only, Auto off. Nine counters in the ones, then ask what happens when one more arrives.
• Year 2. Build 34, then 43. Same digits, different columns, and the counters show why one is bigger.
• Year 3. Show number off. Build 306 and ask what job the zero is doing, then take it away and see.
• Year 4. Drag a thousand counter down into the hundreds. What is the number now, and why has it not changed?
• Year 5. Add a tenths column, build 5 and divide by ten. The 5 does not shrink, it moves.
• Year 6. Decimals out to thousandths. Build 6.4 and divide by ten twice. Why are 0.64 and 0.064 not the same size?

The misconceptions it helps with

Multiplying by ten means adding a zero. Two rows one above the other show the digits moving one column left, and the zero turning up because the ones column is empty. Divide by ten and the zero trick falls apart.

Exchange only goes upwards. Most charts only make bigger units. Here a counter goes down a column and bursts into ten, which is the move borrowing needs.

Writing ten in a column. A column holding ten counters shows a 10 at the top, which looks wrong on purpose. Exchanging is what makes it look right again.

Longer number, bigger number. Build 0.45 and the tenths column holds a 4, not a 5, so it sits below 0.5 however many digits it has.

Frequently asked questions