Below you will find videos to help you understand the subitzing levels described in Subitising through the years (Faulkner, Ainslie, 2017). Use these videos to learn how to subitize like a pro!

The videos are organized by levels. Begin at Perceptual Subitizing 1 (P1). Review the article, the content connections, the learning trajectory connections and watch the practice and troubleshooting videos for each level. You will then be prepared for your students. With your students, stay within a level until you have 100% speed and mastery with 95%-100% of students. Once you progress to a new level with the class, you will want to include some slides from earlier levels to keep up the Speed.

Subitizing is a speedy activity for a reason. To subitize is to see a value suddenly without underlying mathematical computation (such as adding). You just see it!! This can be done with quantities/sets up to 5. After that, the brain clumps together numbers in order to quantify the value of the set, in order to know the value of the set. We can often Subitize to understand the cardinal number of a set (the total quantity in the group) WITHOUT the need to count. This is a mathematical revelation. For more on this see Subitising through the years, Faulkner, Ainslie, 2017. Subitizing: What is it? Clements, 1999; and the book The Number Sense, Stanislas Dehaene first issued in 1999.

Each level has a powerpoint presentation for you to use, and build from, in your own classroom. For the first few levels there are a couple of sets so that you can get used to how to vary your lessons within a subitizing session. Each set has a practice video where I talk and run through the set as if children were present and I also discuss the instructional issues directly. These practice sets are critical to ensure you understand the purpose of a given level. Also critical are the Troubleshooting videos that anticipate key considerations that often come up. Content connections are noted throughout. Also see Subitising through the years, Faulkner, Ainslie, 2017. In the early levels I have a Live Action video as well that you can use directly with children until you get used to the timing.

August 2022 – I recently was able to observe Dr. Ban Har Yeap who is known for his work in Singapore with Singapore Math methods. I have synthesized his talk and attached here the section on language. Good stuff. It helped me to understand how to ‘read’ number expressions while teaching the mathematical structures built into story problems.

Presentations slides and videos below.

PERCEPTUAL LEVEL 1 (0-3, Metacognition: Subitizing!!, Conservation of Number)

CONCEPTUAL LEVEL 1 (0-5, Composing small sets to process the value of the larger set)

CONCEPTUAL LEVEL 2 (0-9, Composing small sets to process the value of the larger set)

CONCEPTUAL LEVEL 3 Missing Addends, Subtrahends, Minuends 0-9

CONCEPTUAL LEVEL 4 Seeing Differences/Match Compare

C5 will be posted sometime this winter. Wanted to get to C6 and C7!

Levels C6 and C7

C10 Multiplicative

Watch Background Video first.

C10 Background Video

Graphic organizer for multiplicative facts by Bay-Williams and Kling, 2019. Math Fact Fluency: 60+ Games and assessment tools to support learning and retention. http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/Math-Fact-Fluency.aspx

Faulkner cartoon head drawn by Liz Hume.

C10 #1 Language and Basics 2,5,10 Explanation and Pacing Video + Powerpoint slides.

Watch Video first for Timing and topics of Discussion.

Use these slides for several weeks. A lot to talk about. You want all students in your class to use their hands efficiently as 2 x 5 = 10. Mix the slides up and do them again and again. All students should ‘wire’ their brains to understand their hands as a tool that helps them with 2 x 5 and 5 x 2 as well as multiples of 5 and 10.

Once the whole class is fast with these and can name different factors fluently and with meaning, you are ready to build from there. There is no hurry. Have students use the language of factors and products accurately. Have students begin to use their hands more quickly. Have students understand that 5 fingers x 2 hands = 10 fingers. Have student understand that I can think of 20 as 5 x 2 x 2 or as 10 x 2 and etc.