Reinforcing Place Value

Abstract

One approach to improving mathematical achievement is to allow students the opportunity to make decisions, use alternative strategies, and communicate and reason—during practice sessions as well as during the developmental portion of instruction. Whereas traditional paper-pencil drill sessions might allow students the necessary opportunity to “fix” computational and place-value skills (Heddens and Speer 1988), many types of reinforcement activities do not require students to employ the problem solving, number-sense, and reasoning strategies learned when the content was introduced (NCTM 1989). Practice experiences can be made more meaningful if they offer elements of risk taking when choosing and using numbers so that the activities are indeed unique and challenging each time they are used.