Why do two cards sometimes read as one number and sometimes as two?

Because that is what the gap between them means. Cards touching each other are one number, and cards with a space between them are separate. It is the same convention a child uses writing on paper, and the readout follows it so you can show the difference rather than explain it.

Can I use more than one of the same digit?

Yes, as many as you like. Tapping or dragging from the tray makes a new card each time, so 222 is three taps on the same card.

Where are the plus and minus cards?

Under Symbols. The tray is one row and it will not hold ten digits and seven symbols at once, so they come in two sets. Switching the tray does not touch the cards already on the board.

Number Cards

Number · Reception–Year 5

Digit and symbol cards. Build a number, then move it about.

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About the number cards

Ten digit cards and seven symbol cards, dragged onto the board and moved around. The moving is the point: writing 24 on a board and asking a class to make it 42 means rubbing it out, and swapping two cards takes a second and shows a child exactly what changed.

The readout tells you what the cards say, left to right. Digits touching each other join into a number, and digits with a gap between them stay separate, so a two and a four side by side read as twenty-four and the same two cards pulled apart read as a two and a four. That is the difference the tool exists to make visible.

Symbols are a second set in the tray, because ten digits and seven symbols will not fit one row. Tap Symbols to swap the tray over; the cards already on the board stay where they are. Plus, minus, times, divide, equals, and the greater than and less than signs for ordering work.

Leave a gap for a missing number and the class fills it. Tidy up straightens a crooked line without reordering it, so a calculation a teacher has built by dragging comes out neat and still says the same thing.

How to use it on your whiteboard

1Drag a card out of the tray, or tap it to drop one on the board.
2Drag cards next to each other to make a number, or apart to separate them.
3Tap Symbols to put the operators in the tray, and Digits to go back.
4Tidy up straightens the row without changing the order.
5Tap Fullscreen so the cards fill the board.

Questions

Why do two cards sometimes read as one number and sometimes as two?: Because that is what the gap between them means. Cards touching each other are one number, and cards with a space between them are separate. It is the same convention a child uses writing on paper, and the readout follows it so you can show the difference rather than explain it.
Can I use more than one of the same digit?: Yes, as many as you like. Tapping or dragging from the tray makes a new card each time, so 222 is three taps on the same card.
Where are the plus and minus cards?: Under Symbols. The tray is one row and it will not hold ten digits and seven symbols at once, so they come in two sets. Switching the tray does not touch the cards already on the board.