Reading and Writing Numbers Teaching Resources
Teach students how to read and write numbers in a variety of forms with this extensive collection of printable worksheets, digital activities and more resources for elementary teachers!
Bring these essential maths skills to life with the help of Common Core and TEKS math curriculum-aligned resources that have been created with your lesson plans — and your students — in mind! Best of all, each resource has undergone a careful review process by an expert teacher on the Teach Starter team to ensure it's classroom-ready.
Looking for tips to help your students express quantities accurately and effectively? Read on for a primer from our teacher team on reading and writing numbers, how to teach these concepts and more!
Teaching Students How to Read Numbers
Before we can talk about writing numbers, we need to to set the foundation with reading them.
Once students can recognize numerals, it's typical for teachers to dive deep into place value. We want our students to understand that each digit's position in a number represents a different value (e.g., tens, hundreds, thousands, etc.).
With that comes the ability to read two- and three-digit numbers (and later even larger whole numbers!) as our students come to understand that they're not seeing two distinct numerals side-by-side but a brand-new number that has been formed.
This requires learning new language too — words like twenty, thirty, forty, etc.
So let's break down how to read a few numbers!
Reading Two-Digit Numbers
In a two-digit number, the leftmost digit represents the number of tens, and the rightmost digit represents the number of ones. For example, let's look at the number 35.
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- The digit 3 is in the tens place, so it represents 3 tens or 30.
- The digit 5 is in the ones place, so it represents 5 ones.
To read the number 35, you say "thirty-five."
Here are a few more examples of how to read two-digit numbers:
- 45 — forty-five
- 27 — twenty-seven
- 93 — ninety-three
Reading Three-Digit Numbers
Let's go one level up. In a three-digit whole number, the leftmost digit represents the number of hundreds, the middle digit represents the number of tens and the rightmost digit represents the number of ones. For example, let's look at the number 371.
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- The digit 3 is in the hundreds place, so it represents 3 hundreds or 300.
- The digit 7 is in the tens place, so it represents 7 tens or 70.
- The digit 1 is in the ones place, so it represents 1 one.
To read the number 371, you say "three hundred seventy-one."
Here are a few more examples of how to read three-digit numbers:
- 134 — one hundred thirty-four
- 469 — four hundred sixty-nine
- 873 — eight hundred seventy-three
Teaching Students How to Write Numbers
Now that students can read multi-digit numbers, we can start talking about writing them in different forms, including expanded form. Writing numbers again comes back to place value, with each digit in a number representing a different value based on its position within the number.
Here's what that looks like:
How to Write Two-Digit Numbers
Write the digit in the tens place first. This will be the leftmost digit in the two-digit number.
Next, write the digit in the ones place to the right of the first number.
For example, to write the number "thirty-five," you would:
- Write the digit 3 in the tens place.
- Write the digit 5 in the ones place.
- In the end, you have written 35.
How to Write Three-Digit Numbers
Write the digit in the hundreds place first. This will be the leftmost digit in the three-digit number.
Next, write the digit in the tens place to the right of the first number. This will be the middle digit in the three-digit number. Finally, write the digit in the ones place to the right of the middle digit.
For example, to write the number "three hundred fifty-two," you would:
- Write the digit 3 in the hundreds place.
- Write the digit 5 in the tens place.
- Write the digit 2 in the ones place.
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4-Digit Numbers Worksheet
Practice reading and writing 4-digit numbers with this printable PDF worksheet.
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Find a Friend Expanded Form Worksheet
Explore expanding 2-digit to 6-digit numbers with your students with this expanding form active worksheet.
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4-Digit Pizza Interactive Activity
Use this interactive game to enhance students' proficiency in writing and representing 4-digit numbers.
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Place Value Charts — Printable Math Mats
Practice place value concepts, addition, and subtraction with a printable set of free place value charts.
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Expanded Form Teaching Slides
Teach your students about how to represent numbers in expanded form with this set of engaging teaching slides.
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2 Digit Place Value Puzzles
Teach students the different representations of 2-digit numbers with this place value puzzle.
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Roll and Expand Numbers Worksheet Pack
Explore place value with your students using this set of leveled expanding numbers worksheets.
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Place Value Chart – Printable Banner
Use this printable place value chart filled with different ways to represent a number in your classroom.
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Expanded Form Dominoes (5-Digit Numbers)
Use this set of dominoes when learning how to match 5-digit numbers written in standard form and expanded form.
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Representing Two-Digit Numbers - Place Value Worksheet
A set of worksheets for students to use when learning about place value and the different way two-digit numbers can be represented.
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Roll It, Make It, Expand It! - Place Value Worksheet
A worksheet for students to use when learning to write two-digit numbers in expanded form.
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What's My Card? Double-Digit Board Game
A set of cards to be used in a Guess Who? Board Game for students to consolidate their knowledge of double-digit numbers.
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4-Digit Number Riddles Cut and Paste
Use these 4-digit number worksheets to help students practice matching numbers up to 10,000 with their word and expanded forms.
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Thanksgiving Place Value Worksheets for 2nd Grade
Match number, word, and expanded forms of numbers with a fun set of printable Thanksgiving Math worksheets for second grade.
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Place Value Worksheets for 2nd Grade - Thanksgiving Math Mazes
Save the turkey and match numbers, words, and expanded forms of numbers with a fun set of printable 2nd-grade Thanksgiving Math maze worksheets.
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Missing Numbers in Expanded Form Worksheet
Practice converting double digit numbers into their expanded form with this easy to use student worksheet.
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2-Digit in Expanded Form Interactive Activity
Engage students in showing their knowledge of converting double digit numbers into their expanded form with this interactive activity.
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2-Digit Numbers in Expanded Form Worksheet
Explore two-digit numbers in standard form and expanded form with this set of two cut-and-paste style worksheets.
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Expanded Form Match Up Puzzles
Practice matching standard numbers to their expanded form with your students using this fun, hands-on number puzzle.
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Expanded Form Interactive Task Cards
Explore expanding numbers with your students using these interactive task cards, reviewing numbers in expanded form and place value charts.
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Expanded Form Task Cards
Help your students explore expanding numbers up to 6-digits with this set of task cards.
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Writing Numbers in Expanded Form Interactive Activity
Help students master reading and writing numbers up to 6 digits with this expanded form interactive activity.
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Hundreds Place Value Number Expander Template
A resource to help reinforce place value and writing 3-digit numbers in expanded form.
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Place Value Penguin - Spreadsheet Pixel Art Activity
Practice identifying numbers in word form, expanded form, and standard form with a fun spreadsheet pixel art activity.
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Number Forms Worksheet
Help students practice recognizing and writing numbers in word form and expanded form with this worksheet.
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How to Write 2-Digit and 3-Digit Numbers Worksheet
Explore how to represent number values in standard form, word form, expanded form, and picture form with this multipurpose place value worksheet.
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Number Talks - Number Sense Task Cards
Build number sense skills with this set of 24 task cards.
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Number Talks - Place Value Task Cards
Build number sense skills with this set of 24 task cards.
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Number Talks - Comparing Numbers Task Cards
Build number sense skills with this set of 24 task cards.
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Number Talks - Place Value Task Cards
Build number sense skills with this set of 32 place value task cards.
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6-Digit Number of the Day Worksheet
A 6-digit place value worksheet to represent the number of the day in different ways.
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Place Value Bingo Game - Numbers 0-999,999
32 different bingo cards using place value to hundred thousands.
- Reading and Writing Numbers Worksheets
- Reading and Writing Numbers Games
- Reading and Writing Numbers Templates
- Reading and Writing Numbers for Kindergarten
- Reading and Writing Numbers for 1st Grade
- Reading and Writing Numbers for 2nd Grade
- Reading and Writing Numbers for 3rd Grade
- Reading and Writing Numbers for 4th Grade