USING A HUNDREDS CHART

I absolutely love encouraging students to use manipulatives and organizers to assist their thinking in math. They are useful for providing concrete pictorial representations which is important in understanding abstract mathematical concepts. In this post, I will explain a few ways you can use a hundreds chart with your child. Let’s get into it. 

WHAT IS A HUNDREDS CHART?

 A hundreds chart is a 10 x 10 number grid containing numbers 1-100. Some charts are extended to 120 to help students understand the pattern of numbers beyond 100. No matter the preference, these charts can be used for computation and investigative activities.

Following are a few different activities you can do with you student using a hundreds chart. There are many free downloadable charts and even interactive ones on the internet. If you opt to use a printed chart, you will want to gather materials such as dot markers, stickers, mini pom poms, etc. to mark numbers on the chart. 

Counting

Younger children who are learning to count and write numbers up to 100 (and beyond for advanced children) can benefit from exercises using a pre-filled chart. Intentionally leave some of the spaces blank. The child has to use critical thinking skills to determine which number comes before or after a number while filling in the blanks. Increase the difficulty by leaving more blank spaces or decrease the difficulty by leaving fewer blanks.  

Skip Counting/Patterns

Have your child skip count by 2s, 3s, 5s, or whatever you decide. Instruct your child to color each number he/she lands on while counting. Ask questions such as “Do you notice anything about the numbers you’ve identified so far?”  For example, if skip counting by 3s, the goal is for the child to recognize that all the marked numbers have a 3 in the ones place. 

10 More/10 Less

Quickly being able to identify a number that is 10 more or 10 less can be a difficult concept for younger elementary students, especially when the number doesn’t end in 0. For example, skip counting by tens is generally easy for students to do and they can typically identify that 10 more than 50 is 60.  If you ask what is 10 more than 47, they may hesitate or struggle a bit to identify 57 as the answer. Using a hundreds charts can help with this. 

Example: What is 10 more than 72? What is 10 less than 72? Repeat with other numbers. 

Addition & Subtraction

A hundreds chart can be used in the same way number lines are used for addition and subtraction. Students can “count on” or “count backwards” to find a sum or difference to a math problem. 

Example: 34 + 4 = 38                86 - 4 = 82

Guess the Number

This is one uses so many different skills. Students can do this together in a pair or small group. Someone thinks of a number between 1-100, then provide clues for the number. For example, the number is greater than 50. This means the number can be any number between 51-100. Another clue is given such as the number is a multiple of 5. This narrows it down to 55, 60, 65, 70, and so on. If the mystery number has not been guessed, further clues are given until the player(s) nail it. I love this one for upper elementary students because there are so many skills that can be reviewed in one sitting. 

While there are a multitude of uses for a hundreds chart, these are a just a few tips on how to use it. There are many free downloads all over the internet. There are even dry erase boards that have hundreds charts on them which are great because you eliminate the need to print multiple copies. Interactive hundreds charts are available on the internet too. There are literally many options to suit everyone’s needs. If you haven’t been using these with your children, I hope you feel equipped to try it out. 

~Dominique

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