XIV June,
MMXII
Roman numerals are all around us and I think it is important
to teach students Roman Numerals. For
example, many clocks have Roman numerals on the face, book chapters and
copyright dates are often marked with Roman numerals. What if you were in a book club and everyone
decided to read to chapter XII and you only read to chapter 7 because you
thought X meant 5 instead of 10. The
Olympics and Super Bowl are noted with Roman numerals as well as political
leaders such as monarchs and popes.
Imagine taking a history test and you have no idea if King Henry VIII
was before or after Henry IV. Many buildings
may also have the year it was built in Roman numerals. Look around and see what Roman numerals you
notice.
I think back to my schools days and I was the kid thinking
“why do we have to know this?” What I
would tell my students now is because Roman Numerals are all around us and
learning all types of numeration systems helps your common number sense. Learning new ways to count gives you a better
understanding of numeration systems and broadens your ability to think
critically at a higher level. A class I
worked in incorporated Roman numerals into their morning message every
day. The students counted the days of
school from I to CLXXII with Roman numerals.
The students became fluent in Roman numerals because they were
challenged each day to count how many days they had been in school.
Numeration systems are fun to learn, it is like learning a
new language. It can be challenging
while helping you grow as a learner and thinker. I found a Roman numeral matching game that
helps you practice the numerals against a clock. Fact Monster also had an easy to read chart
to learn the basic numerals. The last
site I enjoyed reading from Nova Roma explained the process and reasoning
behind Roman numerals in a more narrative form with detailed explanations.
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