Take three hands-up answers, not open call-outs. Give five seconds of quiet think-time before any hands go up. You are listening for pupils noticing that the hundreds digit comes first because it is the biggest part of the number, mirrored by the word 'hundred' being said first.

Walk each example aloud, one at a time, and read the words beneath each build.

• 143 — say the words slowly and point to each column as you say it; the order of the words matches the order of the columns left to right.
• 260 — pause on the units zero. The zero is silent in the count but must be written to keep the 6 in the tens place.
• 408 — this is the make-or-break one: 'four hundred AND eight' with no tens. Stress that the zero in the tens column is what stops it being read as 'forty-eight'.

This round is for talking it through together; pupils take turns at the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud.

Say each number clearly and let a pupil place it, then ask them to write the digits on the board. The class checks the digit form against the words. Watch for 'three hundred and four' being written 34 or 340 — the silent tens-zero is the trap. Revoice a good answer: 'no tens, so a zero holds the tens place, then four units — 304.'

This round is the practice bank; pupils take turns at the board, check each answer, and the class confirms before moving on. Keep the board work brisk rather than over-explaining.

For each one, ask a pupil to say the number aloud and then write its digit form before they place it. Use the ✓ as confirmation in your narration: 'yes — eight hundred and three, that zero holds the tens.' The two with units-zeros (205, 803) and the double-zero (600) catch people out — pause on those.