Using Clicker for math: A comprehensive guide
Table of contents
Introduction
Math can sometimes present challenges for students, but Clicker offers a variety of tools that make learning both accessible and engaging for children of all abilities. By using interactive resources and visual aids, Clicker enhances students’ understanding and boosts their confidence in a wide range of mathematical topics. In this guide, we will explore how you can use Clicker to support your teaching and help your learners excel in areas such as number, operations, measurement, and geometry.
Training webinars: Math subject spotlight
Our subject spotlight training webinars are designed to help Clicker users discover how the software can support teaching across various subjects. These sessions provide valuable insights and practical advice for integrating Clicker into your curriculum.
In our math subject spotlight webinars, we:
- Offer expert tips for navigating Clicker’s resource library, ensuring you can easily find the activities needed for your lessons
- Showcase a selection of ready-made resources developed by our Curriculum Team, which are available as part of your subscription
- Share effective strategies for using Clicker in teaching math, suitable for any grade level
Here are the recordings of our most recent math training webinars:
🎥 Number, place value and operations
📅 Explore our upcoming training webinars
Number
Developing a strong understanding of number is key to mastering many areas of math. Clicker’s visual and interactive tools allow students to build deeper connections with mathematical concepts, particularly those who benefit from seeing and manipulating objects to bring these abstract ideas to life.
View all number resources on LearningGrids
Place value
Place value is a cornerstone of mathematical understanding. Clicker’s resources use visuals such as base ten blocks to show students how numbers are built up or broken down, which is essential for teaching partitioning and regrouping.
Examples from LearningGrids:
- Tens – Read a Book introduces multiples of ten, while Tens and Ones – Read a Book lets students break down two-digit numbers.
- Interactive activities like these develop strong mental fluency. They reinforce the concept of place value in a practical way as children explore the foundations of number.
View all place value resources
Operations
With Clicker, students build on their number knowledge and understanding of place value to develop strategies for the four operations.
Addition and subtraction
Number tiles offer a multisensory approach to learning mathematical concepts. Using number tiles on Clicker complement the use of practical apparatus and can enhance your learners' early number and calculating skills.
Examples from LearningGrids:
- The Number Tiles 1-10 Talk Set can be used to practice the recognition of the number each tile represents (subitizing), as well as to reinforce the reading of numbers up to 10. They aid the transition from using concrete resources to pictorial resources.
- Matching Sets offer an engaging multisensory approach to understand basic number relationships including number bonds.
- Resources like the Addition Board help visualize the properties of addition - such as commutativity - and aid the transition from using concrete resources to pictorial resources.
View all addition and subtraction resources
These resources provide scaffolded support, making them ideal for a range of abilities.
Multiplication and division
Many students are introduced to multiplication and division by linking them with repeated addition and grouping, helping students visualize these concepts. Clicker’s interactive resources break down these operations into digestible chunks, making them a great way to practice multiplication and learn multiplication facts.
Examples from LearningGrids:
- Repeated Addition Using Arrays provides students with visual aids to understand multiplication as repeated addition.
- Common Multiples and Factors offer a great way to structure an investigation into the products and factors of given numbers.
- Clicker also includes Practice Sets to boost students’ confidence and familiarity with multiplication facts.
View all multiplication and division resources
Measurement
Measurement can often feel intangible for students. However, with Clicker’s visual and scaffolded resources, learners can confidently apply mathematical principles to real-world contexts.
View all measurement resources on LearningGrids
Money
A practical area for teaching measurement is working with money. Clicker’s resources in LearningGrids help students recognize coin values, count money, and perform operations involving sums and calculations.
Examples from LearningGrids:
- The US Coins – Read a Book Clicker Book familiarizes students with the different coin names and values.
- Matching Sets reinforce coin identification and total values.
- Money Targets Connect Sets enable students to practice arithmetic using money equations and understand currency more practically.
Length, Mass, Volume
Measurement can be challenging for students who struggle with abstract numerical values. Clicker’s visual supports allow learners to see and manipulate representations of length, weight, and volume.
Examples from LearningGrids
- Which is Longer and Which Hold More Connect Sets offer students choices when building a sentence to compare the length, mass or volume of different objects. Connect sets support your students with picture support and key vocabulary that is essential to understanding these math concepts.
View all length, mass and volume resources on LearningGrids
Time
Time can be difficult to conceptualize because it isn’t something students can physically manipulate. Clicker provides visual tools that help learners see and understand time more concretely.
Examples of LearningGrids resources
- Clocks Talk Sets - Students can select a clock, record up to one minute of audio and listen back to their recordings as many times as they’d like. Edit this resource to include daily schedules and times during the school day!
- Telling Time Sentence Sets and Connect Sets support students as they build sentences to demonstrate their understanding of telling time on analog and digital clocks. These are perfect for assessing students’ understanding of telling time to the hour, half hour and minute!
Geometry
Geometry requires visual and spatial reasoning, so using Clicker’s resources helps bring these concepts to life in the classroom.
View all geometry resources on LearningGrids
2-D shapes
Understanding 2-D shapes requires strong visual recognition, and Clicker provides engaging visual tools to support this.
Examples from LearningGrids:
- 2-D Shapes Matching Sets are an excellent tool that help students to connect pictures, words and sounds. These activities are engaging, reinforce concepts and offer instant feedback as your students work through them. Students can complete these independently or display them on an interactive whiteboard for your whole class to use.
3-D shapes
Identifying and understanding 3-D shapes is crucial for students’ spatial reasoning, and Clicker’s interactive resources provide them with fun and engaging activities.
Examples from LearningGrids:
- 3-D Shape Hunt – Read a Book introduces students to various 3-D shapes (e.g., cubes, spheres, and cones) and asks them to identify them in the real world.
- Shape Scavenger Hunt Clicker Board turns a lesson into an interactive, hands-on exploration that students can carry out outdoors or in the classroom, encouraging them to link geometric concepts with the world around them.
Position and direction
Understanding position and direction requires students to grasp abstract spatial relationships. Clicker provides visual tools that make these concepts more concrete. Position and direction are best learned through active engagement. Clicker makes this possible by allowing students to interact with concepts in a meaningful way.
Examples from LearningGrids
- Left and Right Connect Set - Students can write about the position of an object using this resource. Edit the images using our CrickPix2 library to customize this set to meet the interests of your learners.
- Left and Right Talk Set - students have the opportunity to use directional words to describe various images. This is a great way for students to show their understanding. They can orally rehearse key vocabulary and record sentences such as, “The blue teacup is on the right side of the teapot. The yellow teapot is behind the cupcakes.”
Lines and angles
Clicker is great for helping students develop their angle-related vocabulary and explanation skills.
Examples from LearningGrids
- Types of Angles - Read It Yourself - students can access this Clicker Book independently or as a whole class to explore the different types of angles with visual examples.
- Types of Angles Matching Set - this resource is brilliant for consolidating learning at the end of a lesson or to check prior knowledge. Students can practise in a safe environment and build their confidence with identifying angles.
View all lines and angles resources
Conclusion
Clicker offers a broad array of resources that can support and enhance your teaching across various areas of math, from number operations and place value to geometry and measurement. By incorporating interactive and visual materials into your lessons, you help students build relationships between the abstract and real-world application of math.
Explore LearningGrids today to discover more of Clicker's accessible resources and meet the needs of your learners. By using Clicker’s interactive tools, you can empower students to experience greater success in math while making learning engaging and accessible for everyone in your classroom.
