Greater Than/Less Than: Whiteboard Tool, Song, & Activities

After seeing some greater than/less than desktop tools for students on Mrs. T's First Grade Class blog, I wanted to create a version for use on the whiteboard. It's very easy to make.

Materials needed:

black posterboard
white posterboard
metal brads
packing tape
magnet(s)

Secure two strips of white posterboard to the black paper with brads, as shown. Cover brads on back of paper with packing tape to prevent scratches on the whiteboard. Affix magnets to the back. I used an old advertising magnet (from junk mail), cut it in half, and glued one strip to each side of the back of the black posterboard.

Pivot the white strips to show greater than/less than/equal to. The tool could be used on the whiteboard or moved to the carpet for work with other manipulatives such as comparing groups of sea creatures or buttons on counting mats. In a game like 50 or Bust! (grade 1), students could place the tool between a set of game cards and adjust the symbol after building the collection of numbers with unifix cubes.

During the Kindergarten CCSS Supplement A6, "One Dot, Many Dots Calendar Pattern," students could manipulate the moveable "arms" to show which stack of Unifix cubes is greater.

Also, if you have a little classroom transition time, K-1 teacher Misti Simmons in Casper, Wyoming, suggests using songs and online activities. Here are her suggestions for greater than/less than:

Number Eating Alligator Song

Compare Numbers (activity)
Comparing Number Values (activity)