ABSTRACT
One activity for helping students subitize domino dot images is to have them play a simple matching game with dominoes. The doubles are a key strategy used in both addition and multiplication so it is important that they have internalized pictorial images of doubles. The purposeful selection of materials and activity design can enhance the mathematical language used by students. Some materials, such as regular dominoes, have a single representation for each number, one to nine. Other materials, such as ten-frame dominoes, can have a variety of representations for the quantities. This variety of representations lends itself to both naming the quantity and defending a choice using language. There is more language development and language use involved with the material choice than with classic dominoes.
