What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'?

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Sun, 26 Feb 2017 02:02:17 GMT

Khong Pek Mao — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 02:02:17 GMT

To visualise more than and less than, you may use the Comparison Modal. (The one short bar and one long bar modal).

The comparative part (more or less than) is outside the 2 bars.

To work with sentences, remember the Location

more than

Any number in front of or after more than are Parts.

Less than

The number after less than is Whole.

Circle the Whole if you see the number.

2 simple Rules

You can only minus by a Whole.

You can only add with the Parts.

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Fri, 24 Feb 2017 05:46:19 GMT

BigDevil — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 05:46:19 GMT

Less than/more than questions are presented in the form A less/more than B is C, with either A, B, or C a blank.

You can convert the question into a number sentence by reading the question backwards.
Whenever the child reads a number (or blank), write it down as it is.
Whenever the child reads less/more than, write down \"-\" for less, \"+\" for more
Whenever the child reads the word \"is\", write down \"=\"

Eg.
https://s2.postimg.org/v6zyr1ck9/Less_Than_More_Than.jpg\">

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Thu, 13 Aug 2015 00:33:47 GMT

mceducation1 — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 00:33:47 GMT

keepkidsreading:
I find the best way to introduce it is very simply to draw the < and > symbols as crocodile jaws. The crocodile always eats (faces) the bigger number. Simple!

Indeed using the crocodile jaws as symbols to teach the concept of greater than and less than or more than and less than is a fun and creative way. It is however not in alignment with the MOE's Mathematics Syllabus.

Children might get confused with the crocodile jaw symbols and the words and the numerical representation.

Singapore Math is grounded on the Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract (CPA) Approach based on Bruner's Learning Theories.

Children who have a wealth of experiecnes with concrete materials when a new concept is introduced are found to have a strong foundation in the said concept or topic. Then moving on to have such concrete experiences translated into pictorial form and when ready, the abstraction (that is in symbols such as numerical representations).

In this case, may I suggest that children be introduce to as many different scenarios of 'more than' and 'less than' as possible. Engage the child in verbalising each case.

Take for instance,

I have 5 sweets. You have 3 sweets.
I have more sweets than you have.
You have fewer sweets than I have.

'5 sweets' are more than '3 sweets'.
'3 sweets' are fewer than '5 sweets'.

How many more sweets do I have than you have?
I have 2 more sweets than you have.
You have 2 fewer sweets than I have.

(All the above should be 'supported' by concrete objects.)

Notice that we do not only introduce the phrase 'more than' on its own but it is always done in relation to 'fewer than' or 'less than'.

The child needs to understand and be able to 'see' the relationship between them.

Mathematics is all about making connections, linking concepts, understanding and communications.

Children who can verbalise their thoughts or who can think aloud have been found to be more aware of their own thinking and are able to 'error check' their own work, be it mentally, verbally or on written work.

Hope my sharing helps.

Cheers,
Michelle Choo
Mathematics Educator
(27 years of Math Education Experience)

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Tue, 23 Sep 2014 05:37:40 GMT

guest2013 — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 05:37:40 GMT

I used to teach my kids using number line…

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Mon, 22 Sep 2014 03:22:09 GMT

keepkidsreading — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 03:22:09 GMT

I find the best way to introduce it is very simply to draw the < and > symbols as crocodile jaws. The crocodile always eats (faces) the bigger number. Simple!

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Tue, 19 Nov 2013 05:13:48 GMT

Blue Pearl — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 05:13:48 GMT

tks for sharing PiggyLalala . I am also confused on how to teach my gal but after gg thru ur steps, it seems not bad after all.

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:57:32 GMT

doremom — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:57:32 GMT

PiggyLalala:
Have posted this before in another thread. You may want to consider the method below.

Solving questions on 'more than' and 'less than' sums

Type 1
_______ is 5 less than 12.
Cover up 5. The question will then be read as ______ is less than 12. Therefore _____is the smaller number. To find the smaller number, we always need to subtract. The answer is then 12 - 5 = 7.

Similarly
_______ is 2 more than 12
Cover up 2 again. The question will then be read as ______ is more than 12. Therefore ____ is the bigger number. To find the bigger number, we always need to add. The answer is then 12 + 2 = 14.

Type 2
3 is 4 less than ____
Cover up 4. The question will then be read as 3 is less than ______. Therefore 3 is the smaller number and ______ is the bigger number. To find the bigger number, we always need to add. Therefore the answer is 3+ 4 = 7

10 is 6 more than _____
Similarly cover up 6. The question will then be read as 10 is more than ______. Therefore 10 is the bigger number and ______ is the smaller number. To find the smaller number, we always need to subtract. Therefore the answer is 10 -6 = 4

Type C
2 is ___ less than 10.
In this question, we are comparing the 2 numbers, 2 and 10. 2 is less than 10 but by how much? To find the answer, we use the bigger number minus the smaller number, that is, 10 - 2 = 8.

10 is ______ more than 4.
In this question, we are comparing the 2 numbers, 10 and 4.
10 is more than 4 but by how much? To find the answer, we again use the bigger number minus the smaller number, that is, 10 - 4 = 6.

Hope you can understand my solution...

Good solution indeed

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:23:42 GMT

PiggyLalala — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:23:42 GMT

Have posted this before in another thread. You may want to consider the method below.

Solving questions on ‘more than’ and ‘less than’ sums

Type 1
_______ is 5 less than 12.
Cover up 5. The question will then be read as ______ is less than 12. Therefore is the smaller number. To find the smaller number, we always need to subtract. The answer is then 12 - 5 = 7.

Similarly
__ is 2 more than 12
Cover up 2 again. The question will then be read as ______ is more than 12. Therefore ____ is the bigger number. To find the bigger number, we always need to add. The answer is then 12 + 2 = 14.

Type 2
3 is 4 less than ____
Cover up 4. The question will then be read as 3 is less than ______. Therefore 3 is the smaller number and ______ is the bigger number. To find the bigger number, we always need to add. Therefore the answer is 3+ 4 = 7

10 is 6 more than _____
Similarly cover up 6. The question will then be read as 10 is more than ______. Therefore 10 is the bigger number and ______ is the smaller number. To find the smaller number, we always need to subtract. Therefore the answer is 10 -6 = 4

Type C
2 is ___ less than 10.
In this question, we are comparing the 2 numbers, 2 and 10. 2 is less than 10 but by how much? To find the answer, we use the bigger number minus the smaller number, that is, 10 - 2 = 8.

10 is ______ more than 4.
In this question, we are comparing the 2 numbers, 10 and 4.
10 is more than 4 but by how much? To find the answer, we again use the bigger number minus the smaller number, that is, 10 - 4 = 6.

Hope you can understand my solution…

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Sun, 25 Dec 2011 12:03:18 GMT

smartmummy — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 12:03:18 GMT

In P1,when I saw the qn,it made me confused too.Then I found have to find out which is big or small.Then I told to my son,u have to understand what is the qn,u cannot add for "more" and minus for "less".After did some qns he managed to do these qns.Of course they struggle first.

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Sun, 25 Dec 2011 11:39:16 GMT

phtthp — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 11:39:16 GMT

hi pixiedust,

can share how you use those snap cubes to teach K2 child ‘more or less’ concept ? Thank you.

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 01:37:38 GMT

atutor2001 — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 01:37:38 GMT

mummaid:
Thanks for sharing.

DS is confused. He tends to 'add' when he sees the word 'more' and 'subtract' when he sees the word 'less', therefore

5 is 2 less than 3 => which is incorrect
5 is 1 more than 6 => which is incorrect

Will try to reinforce the numberline method and guess more practice sessions with him too (hopefully not tearing sessions for him)

The real problem here is \"language\" and not the concept of \"more or less\". Many students who are weak in their language face this problem. Imo the only solution is \"drill\" until it becomes part of the memory just like the \"timetable\".

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:55:38 GMT

plum-cake — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:55:38 GMT

electron:
Hi there

Have you tried converting the word statements to number statements?

For eg. ____ is 2 more than 5 can be written as _____ = 2 + 5
____ is 2 less than 5 can be written as _____ = 5 - 2

At P1 they have not learned about integers (negative numbers) so my DD
has taken to mean that you cannot subtract a big number like 5 from a small number like 2.

More eg. 5 is _____ more than 2 written as 5 = ______ + 2
6 is _____ less than 10 written as 6 = 10 - ______

Try examples with small numbers until they get the hang of it. Ultimately
it boils down to understanding the language usage.

Hope that helps.

Thank you for this tip..

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 23:35:46 GMT

24hr-mum — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 23:35:46 GMT

u can draw models to show via the part-part whole concept

ie eg 5 is 2 less than ______

5 and 2 would be side by side as they are parts
the whole will be 5+2=7

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Sat, 15 Jan 2011 09:32:04 GMT

electron — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 09:32:04 GMT

Hi there

Have you tried converting the word statements to number statements?

For eg. ____ is 2 more than 5 can be written as _____ = 2 + 5
____ is 2 less than 5 can be written as _____ = 5 - 2

At P1 they have not learned about integers (negative numbers) so my DD
has taken to mean that you cannot subtract a big number like 5 from a small number like 2.

More eg. 5 is _____ more than 2 written as 5 = ______ + 2
6 is _____ less than 10 written as 6 = 10 - ______

Try examples with small numbers until they get the hang of it. Ultimately
it boils down to understanding the language usage.

Hope that helps.

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:43:39 GMT

mikii — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:43:39 GMT

I have problem explaning below question to my DS

1) 458 is 16 more than _____

2) _____more than 73 is 212

Please help!

TIA

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 07:53:43 GMT

raynreg — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 07:53:43 GMT

Don’t know if it works for your child:

5 is 2 less than 3 => which is incorrect
(from the above, you can read as number 5 is "less", so the other number (or answer should be "more than 5")

5 is 1 more than 6 => which is incorrect
(in this case, the number 5 here is more. Therefore, the other number (or answer) should be less)

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 07:36:29 GMT

mummaid — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 07:36:29 GMT

Thanks for sharing.

DS is confused. He tends to 'add' when he sees the word 'more' and 'subtract' when he sees the word 'less', therefore

5 is 2 less than 3 => which is incorrect
5 is 1 more than 6 => which is incorrect

Will try to reinforce the numberline method and guess more practice sessions with him too (hopefully not tearing sessions for him)

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 07:35:33 GMT

mummaid — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 07:35:33 GMT

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 05:12:30 GMT

autolycus — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 05:12:30 GMT

mummaid:
Is there any good way of teaching such concept, I've hard time explaining and DS always end up in tears doing this type of questions. :scared:

Board games (the \"how many steps back, how many steps forward\" type) can work.

You can also try a kind of number line approach (or MRT stations?)

e.g.

--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--

Your first question:
What is 5 less than?(5)--6--7--8--9-->5 is 2 (steps) less than what?(5)--6--[7]--8--9-->Answer is 7.Your third question:
What is less than 6?--3--4--5--(6)If it is 1 (step) less than 6, what is it?--3--4--[5]--(6)Answer is 5.The trick is to teach 'less than' and 'more than' directionally, rather than quantitatively. You can then relate it to subtraction and addition if your DS is comfortable. Different children see arithmetic in different ways.

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 02:10:02 GMT

mummaid — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 02:10:02 GMT

My DS is in K2 this year, he also has problem understanding the 'less than' & 'more than' concept eg.

5 is 2 less than ____
5 is 1 more than _____
____ is 1 less than 6
____ is 3 more than 5

Is there any good way of teaching such concept, I've hard time explaining and DS always end up in tears doing this type of questions. :scared:

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 02:09:25 GMT

mummaid — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 02:09:25 GMT

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 13:37:40 GMT

matrix0405 — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 13:37:40 GMT

thanks guys, will try out the methods.

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 03:55:52 GMT

Suz855 — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 03:55:52 GMT

a) Bryan has 2 more cubes than Noel.

b) Bryan has 2 less cubes than Noel.
c) Noel has 2 more cubes than Bryan.
d) Noel has 2 less cubes than Bryan

The individual/number after 'than' is the starting number ... 2 more means you add 2 to it, 2 less means you take away from it

5 + 2 =7
5 - 2 = 3

As for c & d, we can rewrite it in number sentence as such
? + 2 = 5
Since part + part = whole, part is missing thus we take whole - part

? - 2 = 5
Since whole is missing, we add the 2 parts.

Ps, number bond and fact families concept must be introduce to kids and their understanding will help them to have good foundation in Maths.

Have fun

Reply to What is the best way to teach 'more than and less than'? on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 12:30:24 GMT

pixiedust — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 12:30:24 GMT

I use same method as mrswongtuition.

only I used snap cubes:
http://www.learningresources.com/product/teachers/shop+by+category/manipulatives/math/counters+-+cubes/snap+cubes--174-%2C+set+of+100/AdditionalViews.do

Then move on to draw it out.