Displays can be time-consuming so they need to be of value to the children. They
can also be put up with the children’s help and input in a single day. These can be
quick response displays. For example, you can ask the children to pin up all their
ideas about shapes that have more than three sides. Displays that show ‘work in
progress’ are a useful point of discussion with children: for example, a chart or a list
to which children are going to add information.Noticeboards
Shearer (1989) talks about noticeboards outside of educational settings being
dynamic and meaningful. They often are haphazard and display a range of items.
The items grow and grow until out-of-date things are removed, to be replaced by
more urgent notices. Noticeboards at home reflect the lives of the people in that
house. There can be dates of notable happenings, reminders of events, photographs,
receipts, bills to pay, dental and doctor’s appointments, shopping lists, school letters
and children’s drawings. Noticeboards provide a communication vehicle that is pur-
poseful and interests everybody in the household in some way. Providing a notice-
board for children in the classroom gives them a further means of accessing literacy
opportunities but it can also provide a way of promoting mathematical communi-
cation.
Noticeboards are usually best if they are put up at a focal point in the classroom.
It is vital that they are at children’s height so the children can easily display any-
thing they wish to communicate with others. Explaining the function and model-
ling how the noticeboard works are essential to get the ideas started: for example,
the teacher may start to put up notices and explain them to the children.REMEMBER 50P MILK MONEY, TOMORROWSPECIAL ASSEMBLY THIS WEEK ON MONDAY AT 10 AMJACK HAS A DENTAL APPOINTMENT AT 2.OO ON FRIDAYLakshmi says that her Dad said that one million has six zeroes in it. Do you think
that is right? Try writing one million in numerals below.Try to discuss with a
partner if you think one million has six zeroes.What other numbers do you
know that end in zero?148 Children’s Mathematics8657part 2.qxd 04/07/2006 17:22 Page 148