Evaluation
Usually number lines are hardly noticed by children but I believe this one was
popular because the children had ownership of it. It was not a piece of wallpaper but
a ‘living’ number line that they could engage in if they wanted to. Children made
their own meanings from their experiences because they were empowered to guide
the learning and receive appropriate teacher responses at relevant times. The
number line was an excellent evaluation tool and informed me what the children
knew. The children learned from each other as they listened to discussions about the
numbers. The language used and received was important for their growing under-
standing of number lines and number sense.‘No entry!’
This section was contributed by Louise Glovers, nursery teacher at the Robert Owen
Children’s Centre, (see cover photo).THE MATHEMATICS exploring a standard abstract symbol to convey a message to
others
AGE 4 to 8 years
CONTEXT garage role-play area outside
FEATURES symbol making and use within the context of free role-play
mark-making outsideThe children in the nursery had been showing a great interest in our garage role-play
area outside, which was next to the graphics area. We had included an office with
clipboards and invoice books for them to write in and encouraged the children to
write down details about the cars that they were repairing and the cost of repairs.
This was proving especially popular with the boys who were enjoying mark-making
in this environment, and writing on clip boards.
Mark had been one of the children who enjoyed playing in the garage and had
extended the play away from the role-play area. We had made large chalks available
and encouraged them to make their own marks on the playground. Some of the chil-
dren were playing on bikes and other wheeled toys and Mark chose a corner of the
playground that led down a narrow passage-way to a locked gate, where he could
make marks without interruptions. At the top of this passage-way he began to draw
yellow crosses all around himself. When I asked about his marks, he explained that
this was a ‘no entry area for the cars’!Evaluation
Mark appeared to have noted similar symbols on road signs and transferred and
developed this knowledge within his play. He decided that there had to be many of
these symbols spread across a wide area for his message to be clear to other children.166 Children’s Mathematics8657part 2.qxd 04/07/2006 17:28 Page 166