How to Write a Number Story

Writing number stories helps children to visualize mathematical facts. Some children are only able to understand math if they can see the numbers represented by something tangible. When they write a number story, they are devising their own images for the numbers in an abstract number problem.

Instructions

1. Instruct the child to choose a number. For instance he may choose to write about 10.

2. Tell the child to invent a story about things that can add, subtract, multiply or divide to make the number 10. For instance, his story might be about having 13 lollipops and then giving 3 away, leaving him with 10.

3. Let the child write down the story on a sheet of paper and illustrate it using crayons or markers. Make sure that he also writes down any math facts used in his story. For the example, the child would write 13 - 3 = 10.

References

• Number Story