Persisting Teen/ty Confusions as an Indicator of a Specific Learning Difficulty in Mathematics: Implications for Assessment and Instruction
Maureen FinnaneA specific difficulty in memorizing basic arithmetic facts has been well established as a persisting problem for students with learning difficulties in mathematics. Theories for underlying causes range from low working memory capacity to a failure to encode numbers semantically. Understanding the quantity meaning of the teen numbers is a particular difficulty for some students. This paper will present an intervention designed for a Year 2 Queensland student with persisting teen/ty confusions and a self-acknowledged difficulty in memorising the large doubles facts. Making the tens/ones structure of the teen numbers more transparent to the student provided a foundation for him to learn his large doubles to the point of fluency.