Teaching Roman Numerals

I'm just cutting and pasting this here so I don't forget...

Okay - here is a great little way to teach Roman Numerals, my kids got it in one lesson with just minor review.

(this idea comes from Waldorf stories - and from Serendipity site)
Tell whatever story you want - Waldorf uses gnomes, but you could use animals, children whatever.

The gnomes wanted to count their gems - (squirrels/acorns, birds/seeds, etc). To keep track, they lined sticks up. One gem - one stick, two gems, two sticks, 3 gems, 3 sticks - but then they realized they were going to need a lot of sticks. So one of the gnomes took two sticks and formed a V - this will stand for 5 - see when I hold out my hand and 5 fingers, I make a V (thumb and pointer finger make a V). And one before 5 is four (one stick before a V). Then they continue counting - adding sticks to the five until they get to 8. Again they decide this is too many sticks, so one of the gnomes says - hey, let's cross two sticks to make an X - when I cross my hands across my chest, I have 10 fingers. and of course, one before 10 is nine.

This is a very brief way to introduce the basic concept of Roman Numerals, and to get you started. If you introduce the numbers this way, they love it, and it really is easy to learn quickly. I think it is a necessary skill, but not one you need to spend lots of lessons on. Teach it and move on - it will come up again in other situations (outlining, studying the Romans etc.)

Serendipity Gnomes and Gnumbers lessons (http://ebeth.typepad.com/serendipity/2007/10/gnomes-and-gnum.html)

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