Big, bigger, biggest

Which of these three is the biggest? Are you sure?

MathAges 2–312 minutes3 pagesEnglish textInk-light

Being written

This one is planned but not finished yet. Everything below is what it will contain.

Not drawn yet

I can put three things in order from small to big.

How the fifteen minutes go

The five steps on this sheet, in the order a child meets them. This is what you will actually be doing, not a description of the method.

Print the one that fits today. Same skill, three depths — and on this sheet they differ like this.

Support

Two objects, clearly different.

Fewer items, more pictures, hints included, parent reads the instructions.

Core

Three objects per row, four rows.

The standard task, recognition, practice and explanation.

Challenge

Four objects, and two are close in size.

Open-ended. Explain why, make your own example, use it somewhere new.

The same guide that is printed on the back page, so you can read it before you decide to print anything.

The answers

Each row is drawn so the order is unambiguous. Where two are close, either order is acceptable if they can say why.

If they get stuck

Use real objects: three spoons, three cups. Comparison is physical before it is visual.

Common mistakes

Confusing 'big' with 'important' or 'nearest'. Ask them to put a finger on each and compare heights.
Ordering by position on the page rather than size.

When they finish early

Line up the whole family by height and let them announce the order.