teaching resource

Subitising “Construct-a-City” Activity

Updated: 20 Sep 2024

Utilise this hands-on subitising activity to help your students learn to subitise to 5 and beyond.

Editable: Google Slides
Non-Editable: PDF
Pages: 1 Page
Year: F

Curriculum

VC2MFN02

Recognise and name the number of objects within a collection up to 5 using subitising <ul> <li>recognising how many objects are in a collection or in images on a card with a quick look and saying the associated number without counting</li> <li>playing instructive card games that rely on the recognition of numbers represented in different ways (for example, playing memory games, or matching pairs of quantities on dot cards or similar where the arrangement on each is different) or using subitising to compare and order collections and to say who has more when sharing items in a game</li> </ul>
VC2MFN04

Partition and combine collections up to 10 using part-part-whole relationships and subitising to recognise and name the parts <ul> <li>recognising numbers represented in physical or virtual ten-frames, and describing their reasoning: ‘It’s 7 because there is 5 there and 2 more’</li> <li>partitioning collections of up to 10 objects in different ways and saying the part-part-whole relationship; for example, partitioning a collection of 6 counters into 4 counters and 2 counters and saying, ‘6 is 4 and 2 more, it’s 2 and 4’, then partitioning the same collection into 5 and 1 or 3 and 3</li> <li>representing part-part-whole relationships in numbers up to 10 using physical or virtual materials; for example, identifying numbers represented by dots in standard number configurations such as on dominoes and dice by recognising parts that form the whole</li> <li>exploring number groupings in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ counting systems and the different ways of representing these groupings to form and partition numbers, applying this to quantify collections of objects in the environment on Country/Place up to 10</li> </ul>

teaching resource

Subitising “Construct-a-City” Activity

Updated: 20 Sep 2024

Utilise this hands-on subitising activity to help your students learn to subitise to 5 and beyond.

Editable: Google Slides
Non-Editable: PDF
Pages: 1 Page
Year: F

Utilise this hands-on subitising activity to help your students learn to subitise to 5 and beyond.

An Interactive Subitising Activity

Break out this subitising activity to give your students an engaging way to practise subitising small collections. Students will subitise up to six while constructing skyscrapers with snap cubes to create a 3-dimensional cityscape.

This resource contains five different cityscapes using the following number representations:

Dice
Tally marks
Fingers
Objects
Ten frames

Have students try them all to learn to subitise with many number forms.

Using “Construct-a-City” in the Classroom

There are many ways to use this subitising resource in the classroom. Here are just a few ideas:

Guided Groups – Use this resource for direct instruction or reteaching.
Stations – Place this activity and a set of snap cubes in one of your stations so students can build all the cityscapes over time.
Pass it! – Have students complete one cityscape and then pass it to the next student until they have constructed them all.
“Scoot” Activity – Ask small groups of students to “scoot” from one cityscape station to the next, working as a team to see which group can build the city the fastest!

Instructions:

Prepare for this activity in a snap!

Give students one cityscape and a supply of snap cubes.
Students look at the number represented in one of the squares on their cityscape, and then construct a “skyscraper” with the corresponding number of snap cubes.
Students place their “skyscraper” on top of the corresponding square on their cityscape.
Students continue constructing and placing “skyscrapers” until all squares have been covered.
Students admire their newly constructed city!

Easily Download

This subitising activity is available in both easy-to-print PDF and Google Slides format. Use the drop-down arrow located on the download button to choose what format works best for your lesson.

Longevity Tip: Print on cardboard and laminate so students can enjoy this activity again and again.

This resource was created by April Tierney, a former teacher and a Teach Starter collaborator.

Seeking More Subitising Resources?

If you are on the hunt for more resources to help your students subitise, check out some others below!

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Subitising Card Game

Utilise this subitising card game to reinforce number recognition and subitising skills with some friendly competition!

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Subitise to 10 Task Cards — Number Talks

Help your students subitise to 10 and beyond with these number talk task cards.

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Number Recognition 0-5 Colour-by-Number Pack

Practise number recognition with this colour-by-number activity pack! Students colour varied representations of the numbers 0-5 to solidify their understanding.

Curriculum

VC2MFN02

Recognise and name the number of objects within a collection up to 5 using subitising <ul> <li>recognising how many objects are in a collection or in images on a card with a quick look and saying the associated number without counting</li> <li>playing instructive card games that rely on the recognition of numbers represented in different ways (for example, playing memory games, or matching pairs of quantities on dot cards or similar where the arrangement on each is different) or using subitising to compare and order collections and to say who has more when sharing items in a game</li> </ul>
VC2MFN04

Partition and combine collections up to 10 using part-part-whole relationships and subitising to recognise and name the parts <ul> <li>recognising numbers represented in physical or virtual ten-frames, and describing their reasoning: ‘It’s 7 because there is 5 there and 2 more’</li> <li>partitioning collections of up to 10 objects in different ways and saying the part-part-whole relationship; for example, partitioning a collection of 6 counters into 4 counters and 2 counters and saying, ‘6 is 4 and 2 more, it’s 2 and 4’, then partitioning the same collection into 5 and 1 or 3 and 3</li> <li>representing part-part-whole relationships in numbers up to 10 using physical or virtual materials; for example, identifying numbers represented by dots in standard number configurations such as on dominoes and dice by recognising parts that form the whole</li> <li>exploring number groupings in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ counting systems and the different ways of representing these groupings to form and partition numbers, applying this to quantify collections of objects in the environment on Country/Place up to 10</li> </ul>

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