A short instructional YouTube video (speaker: Ben) showing how to teach Roman numerals to Year 3 pupils. Starts with basics (numerals 1–12), classroom activities (matching games, clock examples), then explains additive and subtractive rules (e.g., IV=4, IX=9), larger forms (XL=40, CM=900), historical/etymological notes (C=century, M=millennium), and classroom resources/mnemonics for reinforcement.
Chapters
Hi, my name's Ben. In this video, I'm going to be showing you how to use Roman numerals. Now, it's worth pointing out here that if this is your first time at teaching Roman numerals to year three, I would start at the basics and look at the numbers and the numerals 1 through 12, so they can see really clearly what each one of those Roman numerals represents in Hindu Arabic numbers. And you could play that with a matching game. And it's what you can see sometimes on a clock as well. However, if the children have had experience with Roman numerals before, then you can move on to these. Something like this is a really, really good starter. They can see the Roman numerals and the number that it represents. And then you could even say to them, why is it that these Roman numerals here represent 8? And there's a lovely link there with history and Henry viii. But children can see and they can articulate why these numerals here represent those numbers. That's a really, really good opportunity for them to talk about their maths. Okay. This is a resource that I would have in their books, and I would have this printed out maybe on your working wall or in their book. So they've got it to hand. And the way that Roman numerals work is that they're quite literal and they follow on from each other. So here the Roman NUMERAL I represents 1. So here you have 1, 1, 1 or I, I, I, which is 1, add 1, add 1, which equals 3. This one. Here you have the X, add the v, add the ii, which is the 10, add 5, add 1, add 1, which is 17. And in here you have the xxv, which is the 10, add 10, add 5, which is 25. Now, when we get onto the more tricky ones, which are these ones here, it's really interesting, again, just to look carefully at it. So here we have the I and the V, which is the 1, and the 5, and the I comes before the V. So it would literally look at being 1 before 5 or 5 minus 1, which is 4, and 1 before 5 is 4. And here you have the I and the x. So the 1 before 10 or 10 minus 1, which equals 9, it's worth pointing out that Xi would be 11 because it is 1 after 10. Now, the Roman numerals had designed their system so it was really, really clear and easy for them to use. So again, I would have a look at something like this in the children's books, and if they wanted to Write the number 40 it wouldn't be XXXX because that's too long winded. Rather they would go XL which is the 10 before the 50 or the 50 minus 10 which equals 40. Similarly here with CM which means 100 before a thousand which is 900 or a thousand minus 100. Worth also pointing out that the C in Latin is the century and the M will be the millennia or the millennium and it's those little facts that you can teach the children to really help them. And finally this is a great mnemonic that I would also have on my working wall or in their books. Hopefully the children would have a good grasp here of the 10 and the 5 and the 1. But the medical part in medical Xavier would be give them that good understanding of the order. So so 1,500, 150 and again little mnemonics like that can really assist the children and help their understanding and that you can go from the introduction of Roman numerals to looking at quite hard concepts like that.
