Background
Number fans or digit cards are a very important piece of mathematical equipment. They should be used at least once a week to review number knowledge. Using number fans for this purpose, rather than a ‘quick ten’ or asking students to ‘raise their hands with the answer to a problem’ has a number of advantages.
- All students have to participate. (It is very easy to see those who would normally 'zone out' during such a 'thinking' activity. This something that some students resent initially - but they get over it!)
- It is easy to see if students are having trouble with a problem – they respond slower or look around at what others have done.
- It is low stakes, so students can see what others have answered, and be redirected to review their work if they hold up the wrong answer. They do not get their lack of mathematical prowess reinforced at the start of every period, instead they can be supported towards additional learning.
- Scaffolding/reminders about strategies can be given while students are thinking through their answers or finding cards.
- No marking is required!
Types of fan cards
There are several types of fan card. Click here for a material masters. (Material Masters numbers 4-10 and 4-18). These are best laminated onto card and tied together with a piece of string. Commercial companies also make several versions. Some have a single set of the digits 0 to 9. Some have an additional 5, and some have 2 sets of the digits. For secondary, at the least you need a set of the digits 0 to 9, along with a decimal point.
Be aware that if using a single set of digits that some problems cannot be done – like “what is the number before 300?”, but a double set of digits can be rather ‘fiddly’.
Alternatives to fan cards
Sets of digit cards can do the same job as fan cards, but can be more flexible as the set can include not only the numbers 0 to 9 but also mathematical symbols like +, -, ×, ÷, %, $, =, <, >, etc, thus allowing equations to be made.
Some schools have tried students using a piece of laminated white card and a white-board marker as a more flexible alternative. Each student has their own.
Using the fan cards
Fan cards are generally used with the whole class, often as a starter. Each student needs their own fan. They are not a piece of equipment that can be shared.
Students use fan cards to answer questions posed verbally by the teacher. They work out the answer mentally, then hold up the number they have worked out. Advise each student to look at the answer they have created on the fan, as some students accidentally hold up the numbers in reverse order – for example 18 instead of 81 if they do not do this.
As well as using fan cards to revise number knowledge and practice number strategies, fans can be used diagnostically to identify which students have a certain understanding and which do not. Experienced teachers thus use the number fans and probing diagnostic questions to group their class for instruction rather than set and mark tests. This can be particularly valuable for the curriculum strands which use number, but are not covered in the diagnostic interview.
Exemplar questions for students at different stages:
Activities using fan cards are also found in Book 4: Teaching Number Knowledge on pages 4 and 34.