Teen number recognition can be tricky for many students. Most of them come into kindergarten knowing their numbers to at least 10 (maybe 12). Once our review of single digits is done at the beginning of the year, it’s time to move on to teen numbers. Here are some common problems students have with them:
Teen Number Mistakes
- Call them by individual letters i.e. one and four instead of 14.
- Adding a -ty to the end instead of a -teen i.e. thirty instead of 13.
- Skipping some of the numbers, especially 15, 16, or 17.
- Problems with 13 and 15, calling them three-teen and five-teen.
- Not being able to recall any information about the number.
Video Resources
To help reinforce students’ teen number recognition, I like to use a lot of videos and chants to help them remember the correct name. Here are some of my favorites:
Heidi Songs have been my favorite for a long time. I bought most of her DVD’s and then, later on, subscribed to her videos on Vimeo. My students always love the songs and it definitely helps them remember their numbers. Jack Hartman and Harry Kindergarten are 2 great (free) options on YouTube as well!
Language Resources
Teen numbers become automatic for students after lots of oral language practice. They need to sing songs, count sequentially (both whole group and individually), and have plenty of opportunities to say the word out loud.
Activities like bingo or memory are perfect for teen number memorization. I created this teen number freebie for you that can be used for both of those activities. Just fill out the information below for the freebie.
Use this for whole group work, intervention, centers, or as early finisher work. Make sure students say the name of the number every time they see it so it becomes automatic.
Teaching the Standards
As students start to get a grasp on the number names, they also need to be building their number sense. Understanding that teen numbers are made up of a group of 10 and some ones is a key component of kindergarten math, and a fundamental understanding necessary for the rest of their mathematical career.
To assist you in covering this standard I created a Decomposing Teen Number resource that allows students to practice the skill in a variety of ways. If you are interested in this resource, just click on the link below:
Decomposing Teen Numbers
Check out some of my other math resources that are perfectly aligned for kindergarten!
