Normal good practice was continuing as we had agreed that it should, and non-number aspects of maths were unchanged. The children were obviously very attracted by the bright red and blue calculators with their slide on covers. They loved having their own machine, and they proudly carried them about everywhere, sitting them on the table even when they were reading or writing a story. It was noticeable that the calculators showed up in a lot of their paintings at this time.
... Page 10
I recall watching one child with a large piece of paper, some Multilink cubes and a calculator. The paper was blank but the calculator displayed 7714. I was not immediately able to relate the child's actions, pushing cubes backwards and forwards and counting them, to the number on the display, so I asked her what she was doing.
I'm making 14, all different ways.
And does this help? I asked picking up the calculator.
Oh yes, it helps you to remember what you are doing - look, it says 7 and 7 make 14.
... Page 10
Later in the year, the head overheard two children arguing about the number displayed on a calculator.
It says ten thousand.
No, its a hundred thousand.
TEN thousand. Look - divide by two. What do you get?
Oh ... five thousand. You're right.
... Pages 10/11
