The Power of Ten – An Introduction
Math can be daunting to many students and to some teachers as well. Many math concepts seem to confuse younger children, and a substantial number of adults grow up feeling less than confident about their mathematic skills. The way that numbers and mathematic operations are taught in North America is really quite different than in other parts of the world. In Asia, students are taught division first and then subtracting, as ‘sharing’ items with others is a logical way to begin. (4 cookies shared between 2 students is really 4 ÷ 2.) In some languages, the names of numbers also make more sense. For instance, in Chinese, 13 is said 10 + 3, which is really beneficial when it comes to learning addition. If you think about it, the way the numbers from 10-19 are named in English is quite confusing.
A newer method of teaching and learning number concepts, which originated in Canada, is called the Power of Ten. The point of the Power of Ten, as explained by its developer, Trevor Calkins, is to help students visualize numbers in their mind rather than relying on counting. Counting is actually a poor way to do mathematics because, for larger numbers, it doesn’t work. No one counts up to1000 when thinking about monthly income and expenses.
The Power of Ten cards are visual aids used to support the Power of Ten approach in the classroom. These cards show the numbers in two, side-by-side towers each five boxes high. (One is represented by a having the bottom box of the left tower filled in; two is shown by having the bottom two boxes on the left tower filled in; six has the left tower completely filled in and the bottom box of the right tower.) A set of cards for each student can be purchased, or made using black line masters. The teacher should also have two sets of larger cards. Also, the teacher should have 10 extra Power of Ten cards for showing students numbers up to 100. The idea with these cards is that, eventually, students will be able to figure out math questions by seeing and manipulating the cards in their minds.
Trevor Calkins also recommends introducing the concepts of multiplication (groups of) and division (shared with) to Grade One students. He says that, in ELA, we let the students, who are capable of more, do more. Why should we want to hold them back in Math? Trevor explains that students get the idea that Math is really easy because they are not challenged early on. He says that that is a mistake because, when they encounter harder questions, later on, they give up because they are not used to working through anything difficult.
Using the Power of Ten is a way of teaching Math that helps students really understand numbers and Mathematic operations.
