Day 5

Session 1: Greater than and smaller than

The learners already learned this concept in Grade 2. Refresh their memories by writing the numbers 5 and 9 on the board. Which number will the hungry crocodile want to eat? (9)

Tell the story: One day there was a very hungry crocodile that lived in a dam. He was always hungry and ate everything! He always snapped up the biggest, fattest buck that came to drink water from the dam. One day two numbers came to drink water – a 9 and a 5. The crocodile quickly swam closer because he was ravenous. Which number do you think he ate? (The 9 because it is greater than 5.)

Repeat the story with different numbers between 0 and 100.

Draw a picture on the board like the one below and revise the symbols:

Explain that the ‘open mouth’ of the symbols for greater than and smaller than must always point to the greatest number. Also explain that an = is used between the numbers when they are the same. For example:

23 > 3 23 < 30 23 = 23

• Count from 100 to 200. • Write a lot of numbers on the paving (1 to 25). Let the learners stand on any number, for example, 5. Ask them to stand on a number that is greater than 5. Let them stand on 5 again.

Then ask them to stand on a number that is smaller than 5. Repeat this a few times.