Learning Roman Numerals

Ready to teach Roman Numerals? Here are the resources you need!

How to Write Roman Numerals

I = 1
V = 5
X = 10
L = 50
C = 100
D = 500
M = 1000

The mnemonic ‘I Value Xylophones Like Cows Do Milk’ may really help you. If you’d like a poster and/or flash cards, you can get them on My Teaching Library…

How to Read & Write Roman Numerals – The Additive Property

The Additive Property – This rather ‘techo’ term simply means to ADD the value of each symbol to arrive at the final number .
e.g. LXXXIII = 50 + 10 + 10 +10 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 83

Roman Numeral Rules:

– When writing roman numerals NEVER use more than 3 of any symbol.
– When smaller numerals are on the right hand side of bigger ones ADD them to the larger.
– Putting a numeral of lesser value before a numeral of greater value decreases the second numeral by the amount of the first. Thus IV equals four because V (five) is decreased by I (one).
– Putting a numeral of lesser value after a numeral of greater value increases the first numeral by the amount of the second. Thus VI equals six because V (five) is increased by I (one).

Fun Lapbook Project to learn Roman Numerals

Students will learn both the history and math of roman numerals as they create a lasting project. Students are given informational text (a brief history) of this numerical system as well as an explanation of the numbers and how they are used (counted – will require students to ‘identify’ given numbers – i.e. CDLX). Students will also learn how roman numerals are used now in every day life.