Dot Cards
Overview
Dot cards build number sense and promote early math skills, particularly Spatial Skills and Non-symbolic Number knowledge. By quickly recognizing spatial arrangements of dots, such as those on a dice or domino, students are able to see how many dots there are without Counting.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Starting at 2:10, watch how this elementary teacher uses dot cards to encourage Non-symbolic Number understanding. By asking students to explain how they got their answers, this teacher supports their math Language Skills and development of Mathematical Flexibility.
Design It into Your Product
Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.
Subitizing Flash Cards displays dot cards with varying objects to encourage pattern recognition and understanding of part-whole relationships. Because learners must select the numeral of the corresponding quantity displayed on a dot card, they also build their number understanding.
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Visual Learning Tools Strategies
Visualizing how ideas fit together helps students construct meaning and strengthen recall.
Visual representations help students understand what a number represents as well as recognize relationships between numbers.
Providing visuals to introduce, support, or review instruction activates more cognitive processes to support learning.
