Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mr. Tilstone.

I'm really excited about working with you today on your math lesson.

So if you are ready, let's begin.

I know you are probably getting very good at counting, and you've probably got lots of different ways to count by now, but today we're going to be focusing on a special strategy called subitising.

Subitising means you don't have to count, you can just see the amount of objects that there are.

This is a really useful skill, because it means we can free up our brains to do other kinds of maths rather than counting.

We've got some special keywords today, so if I say it well, you say it back.

The first word and it's the most important word today is subitise.

So I'll say it, you say it back, subitise.

The second word that you may already have heard before is amount, and that's how many things there are.

So amount.

Very good.

And the final words, and again you've probably heard these before, are how many, ready? How many.

Well done.

In the first part of our lesson, we're going to be focusing on subitising patterns that you've seen before.

Things that might look familiar to you.

Now I've brought some friends along to help me out today.

Would you like to meet them? Okay, first of all, introducing Sam.

Say hello to Sam.

We've also got helping us today Izzy.

Say hello to Izzy.

We've got Alex.

Say hello to Alex please.

We've got Aisha.

Say hello to Aisha.

And last but not least, we've got Jun.

Say hello to Jun.

So let's start by looking at something very familiar to you, a hand.

I'm going to show you a picture of a hand.

What you have to do is tell me how many fingers you can see.

But, and this is a tricky part, I'm not going to leave the picture of the hand up for very long, so if you can help it, try not to count them.

Try to just see the amount of fingers there are.

Are you ready? Let's go.

Okay.

How many fingers did you see there? If you know, say it now.

Did you count? Did you go 1, 2, 3? If so, that's good counting or could you just see three fingers? If so, that's even better.

So if you didn't need to go 1, 2, 3 and you just knew there were three fingers there, you used our special technique called subitising.

Well done to you.

So remember today, don't count.

See the amount.

Can we say that together please? Are you ready? Don't count.

See the amount.

And now I would just like you to say it.

Are you ready? Go.

Fantastic.

Okay, let's look at another picture of a hand this time with a different number of fingers, and I wonder if you can do the exact same thing that we just did.

Try not to count.

Try to see the amount.

Just like before, it won't stay on the screen for very long, so get ready.

Here we go.

Okay, if you think you know how many fingers there were there, say it now.

Let's have a look.

There were five fingers this time.

Very well done if you didn't need to go 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

If you could just see five, you use that special skill.

Can you remember what the skill is called? It's called subitising.

Do you think we should do a little check? Let's see how much you've understood.

You are going to work with a partner and Sam here is going to show you what we'd like you to do.

Sam's working with a partner and that partner's held up some fingers.

What Sam's going to do is very quickly say how many there are.

So her partner puts some fingers up, held those fingers down and Sam will say how many there are.

And that's two.

So do you think you can do that with your partner? Practise how quickly can you subitise.

So hold your fingers up, see if your partner can quickly say how many fingers you are holding up.

It could be one, it could be two, it could be three, it could be four, it could be five.

If your partner is going 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and counting like that, encourage them to try again and have another go.

But this time using that special subitising skill of just seeing the amount.

If you get really good at this, you might want to do some different finger formations.

So for example, I might want to hold up my fingers like that.

How many fingers have I got there? Okay, so good luck with your practising.

Pause the video and I'll see you soon.

Welcome back.

How did you get on? Let's do a little check.

So you go to see some pictures again of hands and just like before you're going to say how many fingers you can see.

You've got to be quick.

Remember, don't count.

See the amount.

That's right.

Here we go.

How many fingers can you see? Three.

Well done.

Ready for another one? Okay, remember to use your subitising skills.

Don't count.

See the amount.

Ready? Here we go.

How many this time? That was a little bit easier wasn't it? There was only one finger.

So one.

Should we do another one? Okay, how many fingers can you see this time? That was five fingers.

Very well done if you got five.

That was a little bit harder.

What about this time, how many fingers was that? That's two.

Did you use subitising to get the number two? Very well done if you did.

Another one.

How many this time? That's right.

Four.

If you didn't need to go 1, 2, 3, 4, and you just said the number four, you use that very special skill called subitising.

Well done.

Okay, let's take a little trip outside and look at some of the things that you might see in nature.

Now if you get the chance to do this for real after the lesson, fantastic, go and have a look outside and see if you can do some subitising to recognise the amount of objects you can see instead of counting them.

But let's use pictures for now.

Objects are much easier to count when we place them in a line and you've probably had lots of practise doing that so far.

If we put things in a line, we can go 1, 2, 3.

In the same way, objects are easier to subitise when they're in a line as well.

So how many conkers can you see here? Remember, don't count.

See the amount.

How many conkers? Three.

So we've had a line of conkers.

Let's try this time a line of sticks.

Do you think you can use your subitising skills to tell me how many sticks there are here? Are you ready? Let's go.

How many sticks are there? Hmm, that was a bit trickier.

Shall we have one more go? Let's look again.

How many sticks can you see? Don't count.

See the amount.

If you said five, very well done.

Let's look at some leaves.

How many leaves can you see here? Again they're going to be in a straight line.

Are you ready? Don't count.

See the amount.

How many leaves? That's right.

Four.

Now well done.

If you weren't fooled by the fact that two of those leaves are one colour and the other two are a different colour, I can still see four leaves and they're still in a row.

I can subitise those four leaves.

This time, I would like you to subitise how many stones you can see, but I'm going to do something a little bit different.

See if you can spot what it is.

Are you ready? Here we go.

Don't count.

See the amount.

How many stones was that? It was three.

Let's look again.

We didn't need to go 1, 2, 3.

We should just be able to see three.

Did you spot what was different? They're lined up differently.

So that's some examples of some subitising that you might do in nature.

So please do have a look outside and see if you can use your subitising skills when you see leaves or sticks or stones or anything like that.

Okay, let's think about something else.

Now let's think about dice.

Have you ever used dice when playing a game before? You may well have done.

I imagine you probably have.

When people roll a dice, they don't count the dots they see on the face.

They use subitising skills so they can play the game quickly and it doesn't slow them down.

So let's practise looking at some dice faces and see if we can subitise the amount of dots instead of counting.

Here we go.

Don't count, see the amount.

How many dots on the dice? Well Izzy here has had a go at that and she hasn't used her counting skills.

She's used her subitising skills.

She's noticed something.

She says, "I can still see a straight line just like before." She can see three dots.

So this is what we call a diagonal line, but it's a straight line just like before.

So well done Izzy, three is the correct answer.

How about this time? How many dots can you see? Remember don't count.

See the amount.

This time Izzy has noticed that the dots aren't in a straight line like before, but you can see two straight lines.

She can still see four dots without counting them.

She can still use her subitising skills.

She didn't go 1, 2, 3, 4.

She just saw four and very well done to you if you just saw four, two.

You're really getting the hang of subitising.

So let's try another one, shall we? I'm going to show you another picture of a dice.

How many dots on the dice face? Ready? Here we go.

Don't count, see the amount.

How many can you see? Izzy again says this one looks just like the four but she can also see one more dot in the middle, so she can see five.

Well then if you said five, you are subitising.

Are you starting to feel confident? Do you think we're ready for a little check? I think we are.

I'm going to show you some more pictures of dice faces.

See if you can tell me how many dots you can see each time.

Remember, don't count.

See the amount.

You got it.

Here we go.

How many can you see? Two.

Another one.

How many dots can you see on this dice face? Ready? How many? Just one this time.

Should we do a harder one? Okay, ready? How many can you see this time? Five.

Well done, if you saw five straight away.

And the five always looks like that on any dice, so it's easy to recognise a five without counting we can subitise on any dice.

Here comes another one.

Ready? Go.

Three.

And another one.

How many can you see this time? Four.

You are turning into a subitising expert.

You're doing really, really well.

It is time to do a practise.

Once again you're going to work with a partner.

You've got a sheet and on your sheet, you've got all of these different images.

They've all got a value on, either 1, 2, 3, 4 or five.

Sometimes it's on a dice face and sometimes it's something else but it's things you've already seen today.

Here's how you're going to do it.

One of you, let's say partner A, will turn over two of the cards.

You have to have them all face down, so you can't see what's what.

Subitise the amounts of them.

Don't count how many there are, subitise.

Don't count.

See the amount.

So for example, you might turn over those two cards.

Do they have the same value? Do they have the same amount on them? No they don't.

Can you subitise the first one? How many can you see there? Two.

And how many can you see on this one? Five.

So that's not a match.

Alex used his subitising skills and he said one shows two, the other shows five, they're not a match.

So now it's player B's turn.

They will also turn over two cards and again they will subitise what they can see.

Here we go.

What can you see this time? Can you subitise both of those cards? Sam can.

She says, "Both of mine show three." She's right.

I can see three fingers here and I can see three on the dice face.

So she gets to keep those cards.

Keep playing until all the cards have gone and the winner will be the person with the most cards.

Enjoy.

Good luck.

Pause the video and I'll see you shortly.

Okay, let's look at our pairs.

So here we've got one finger and one on the dice face.

That's quite easy to subitise.

Here we've got a pair, both of which show four.

Four on the dice face and four leaves.

So they're a match.

Here we've got five, five on the dice face and five conkers.

Now did you notice the five conkers look a bit like the five on the dice face? They wouldn't always do that of course, but in this case it was quite easy to subitise those five because they were arranged in a familiar pattern.

You were really good at subitising patterns that you've seen before.

So we looked at amounts in a straight line and we looked at things like dice face that are familiar.

So let's move on.

Are you ready to make it a bit trickier? I thought you might be.

This time we're going to look at subitising patterns you've not seen before, things that might look a little bit unfamiliar to you.

Let's try.

Let's welcome back Aisha, Jun, Sam, and Sophia.

This stood in a line.

We looked at objects in a line before and they're in a line too.

Can you use your subitising skills to tell me how many children you can see there? Don't count.

See the amount.

How many children are there? Aisha says there are four children and she's right, and Sam says we're standing in a straight line.

So it's quite easy for you to subitise, and well done if you did.

Okay, the children have moved around a little bit now.

They're not in a straight line anymore.

So what's the same and what's different? Hmm.

Let's have a think about that.

Pause the video if you need to.

Well just like before, we've still got four children, so well done if you subitise the number four there and you didn't count.

You might notice they're not in a line anymore.

You might also have noticed they all stood in a special way.

Does it remind you of anything? It reminds me of the four that you see on dice faces.

So I could subitise four very easily.

Aisha says there are still four of us and she's right, nobody's left and nobody's joined the group.

So there's still four.

Jun says we appear like the dots on a dice and well done if you spotted that.

And Sophia says, so it is still easy to subitise instead of counting, we don't need to go 1, 2, 3, 4.

Our brains can see four.

Oh, now I think the children are trying to trick us a little bit, don't you? They've moved about, they're not in a straight line anymore and they're not stood like a dice anymore either.

Hmm.

So what's the same and what's different this time? Well there are still four children and we can still subitise them but they're a bit more jumbled up.

So in other words, they stood in a kind of unfamiliar pattern.

Something we might not have seen before, but because there are still four we can still subitise.

So it's still four.

Sam says we've mixed ourselves up.

Jun says we're not in a straight line or a dice pattern anymore and Aisha says, "But there are still four of us." Now you might have seen, for example, two and two without doing any counting.

Well done if you did.

So just because we've not seen the pattern before, doesn't mean we can't subitise.

Remember, don't count.

See the amount.

Let's practise that.

Not with the children this time, but with some dots.

Won't be on a dice this time, but you might be able to use what you know about dice faces to help you with your subitising.

Let's go.

So don't count.

See the amount.

How many can you see there? That's right.

Three.

There are three dots there.

And you might have noticed it looks to like the four on a die but with one dot missing.

So we can use that to help us with our subitise.

Okay, let's try a different one.

How many can you see now? Ooh, there were still three.

Still three dots.

The top ones moved a little bit, so the formation's different.

You might not have seen that pattern.

It looks a little bit like a triangle though, so you might have to recognise that.

But there are still three dots we can still use subitise.

Are you ready for a new one? Let's go.

How many can you see? Don't count.

See the amount.

How many? Well done if you said four.

Jun can see two and two, so he can see four that way.

You might just have seen four without needing to use any strategies.

I think you are getting really good at subitising and I think you are ready for a new one, a tricky one.

Ready? How many this time? Don't count.

See the amount.

How many? Four is the right answer.

Let's think what's the same and what's the different? What's different between this and the last one? Okay, well there's still the four dots but they're just arranged differently.

You might still see two and two.

It looks a little bit like the dice face, but sort of leaning over, tilting a little bit.

We can use lots of ways to help us to subitise.

So Aisha says, "I can still see two and two.

So I can see four." I'm going to make it harder, but I think you are ready because you are doing really well.

So ready to subitise.

Don't count.

See the amount.

How many this time? Well done if you said five, that was a little bit trickier.

So this time you might have seen a three under two separately or you just might have seen five altogether without using any strategies.

But the important thing is you didn't need to count.

You could just see five.

You know you are getting too good at this.

I'm going to have to give you a really tricky one I think.

Are you ready for one that's really different and really challenging? Okay, let's go.

Use your subitising skills.

Don't count.

See the amount.

How many can you see? Say it if you know it.

Well done if you said five.

Now some different things going on here this time isn't there? The dots are all different sizes and in different positions, but the amount hasn't changed.

We can still see five dots all together even though the sizes are different.

So very well done if you saw five.

Sophia did just that.

She used her subitising skills and she said I can still see five.

The dots have just changed size, but there are still five.

You can still subitise.

I think you are ready to do a check.

So let's see.

I'm going to give you a couple of examples now.

See if you can very quickly tell me the amount.

Don't count, see the amount.

So use your subitising skills.

In other words, so how many dots, ready? Go.

Four, well done if you saw four.

Ready for another one? Three, well done if you saw three.

Your final practise task, once again, you're going to work with a partner.

You're going to pick up up to five counters.

So it could be one or two or three or four or five.

Now keep it a secret.

Don't show your partner what you're doing.

You're going to arrange them in an unusual way.

So not in a straight line this time and not like a dice face, but in an unusual way.

But keep them covered up.

Then take your hand away and see if your partner can tell you how many they can see without counting.

Remember if they do count, encourage them to subitise.

Let's look at an example, shall we? Okay, so this is what you do.

You'd secretly make a new arrangement, put your hand over it and your partner would say three in this case.

Do you think you can do that? Give your partner some nice tricky, unusual arrangements.

Good luck with your subitising.

Pause the video and I'll see you very, very shortly.

Okay, let's have a look at some examples.

Some things you might have done.

So you might have, for example, laid out five counters just like this, just like the boys have done here.

Alex straightaway has been able to use his subitising skills to tell Jun he can see five counters.

I wonder how else you could arrange five counters and how you could subitise them.

What sorts of skills you could use? Let's summarise, shall we? You've done really, really well today.

So we've been looking today at subitising numbers to five.

So remember, your brain can handle seeing amounts between 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, they can do that without actually counting.

So we can recognise up to five objects arranged in a way that we have seen before without counting.

For example, you can see a five here like on a dice face.

So if you can see five, that's called subitising.

But if we're really good at subitising, we can also use it to recognise up to five objects when they are arranged in a way that we've not seen before.

So that's not a dice face.

The second one, and it's not a familiar pattern, it's not a straight line, but if you're really good at subitising, you can still see five.