Stage 3: The Empty Number Line

This should be a secure method for most children as part of informal jottings for mental calculations. It is crucial that children have reliable “jottings” strategies which link the concrete representation that resources provide to a pictoral or mental method.  Written, informal jottings must be taught alongside the use of resources to enable this strategy to develop.

Steps in addition can be recorded on a number line. The steps often bridge through a multiple of 10.