Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers are used every day in our daily lives. We don’t even realise this. It is therefore essential that students learn these concepts in a way that they can remember them. Ordinal numbers are also referred to as ranking numbers. Ordinal numbers always represent rank or position. Ordinal numbers are written using ‘st’, ‘nd’, ‘rd’, and ‘th’ as superscripts with the numbers. For example, 1st tells us that the object at number 1 is actually first in the position.

Ordinal Number Names

Ordinal number names are always written using the suffix st (first), nd (second), third (rd) for numbers ending in 1, 2 and 3. For the rest of the numbers ‘th’ is used as a suffix. For example : fourth, fifth, tenth, eleventh, etc. For example, we express 51 as fifty-first, 52 as fifty-second, and 53 as fifty-third.

Cardinal Numbers

Cardinal numbers are the counting numbers that represent the number of objects or people. Cardinal numbers show quantity. Example : There are eight apples in the basket, Cage contains two beautiful birds.

Posters

Teaching ordinal numbers with kid friendly, clear and easy to understand posters from Uncle Math School by Fun2Do Labs :

Stories

Ignite kids’ curiosity with engaging stories for role play and skits, making the learning of this concept an exciting and effective experience. Teaching ordinal numbers through stories from Uncle Math School by Fun2Do Labs :

Text of Stories

Fun Time At The Sanctuary

Activities

Learning ordinal numbers can be made enjoyable by incorporating interactive games and activities.

Arrange and see :

One of the easiest activities for early learners is lining objects up in a row. The best thing about this activity is that you can use anything of which you have an abundance. Example : Lego, blocks, toys, cars, etc.

Integrating with other topics :

Teaching days of the week and months of the year using ordinal numbers : Kids gain knowledge of the ordinal numbers as well as the sequence of the days in the week or months of the year.