Counting and Cardinality #1: Know the Names and the Count Sequence/Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration; Particpants in Collaborative Conversations with Diverse Partners…

Standard:  Common Core Standard – Math 1: Counting & Cardinality: know number names & the count sequence.

Materials:  Real objects to count and photos of them; number chart; large scale graph paper or tag board strips

Books about counting:

– Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

– I Spy Two Eyes: Numbers in Art by Lucy Micklethwait

– ¡Pio Peep! Traditional Spanish Nursery Rhymes by Alma Flor Ada & F. Isabel Campoy (rhymes that may be used for counting activities)

– Ano’s Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno

– 10 Black Dots by Donald Crews

– The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland

– What Comes in Two’s, Three’s, and Four’s? by Suzanne Aker

– Demi’s Count the Animals One-Two-Three by Demi

– One Watermelon Seed by Celia Lottridge

– Can You Imagine? A Counting Book by Beau Gardner

Building on Children’s Prior Knowledge: During Circle Time ask children to turn to a neighbor and count fingers for their age.

Activities/Procedures:

1. In a small group, read Chrysanthemum. Using prepared tagboard sentence strips lined off into equal squares, write each child’s name, putting one letter in each box so the scale is the same (this may have been prewritten). Talk about who has the shortest, longest name. Put the strips and children in alphabetical order. After class, add a child’s photo to his/her strip, laminate it, and place it in the Writing Center.

2. While reading during the week, ask children to count items in the story.

3. Go for a walk and collect seeds. Count what you collected. Follow-up with a language experience chart or Interactive Writing.

4. Have children count items in the room and make a classroom book.

Adaptations for different age groups, maturity levels, English Language learners, children with special needs:

1. For children with special needs, work surfaces should be the proper height; children may need a partner or adaptive tool to help them grip small items. The outdoor area should be wheelchair accessible. Talk with parents to see if other adaptations are needed.

2. For English language learners, utilize pictures with the vocabulary you emphasize.

3. For younger or more immature children, keep sitting time short and have time for moving and talking. Reading a book may take place over several time periods.

Assessment of children’s grasp of concept(s):

Observe while children count real objects and record your observations.

Follow-up at home for parents:

Help parents understand that rote counting is only one part of counting. Share this continuum with parents:

The National Research Council* indicates that young children’s understanding of number and counting changes with age. Here are the ages/grades it indicates are the achievable content for children:

· Ages 2 and 3: can count orally the numbers 1 to 10; can count one to six items accurately, especially if they are in a row; can tell how many objects (1 to 5) are in a set without counting (i.e., subitizing).

· Age 4 (prekindergarten): can count orally from 1 to 39; can count one to fifteen items in a row accurately; can decompose and compose numbers (6 to 10) and relate these numbers to fingers on two hands.

· Age 5 (kindergarten): can count orally to 100 by 10s or by 1s; can count with effort twenty-five things in a row; can see the teen numbers (11 to 19) as sums that include 10 as an addend (e.g., 17 = 10 + 7).

· Age 6 (grade 1): can arrange objects in groups of 10; can count by 10s using the decade numbers and then count the leftovers by 1s.

*National Research Council. 2009. Mathematics learning in early childhood: Paths toward excellence and equity. Committee on Early Childhood Mathematics, C.T. Cross, T.A. Woods, & H. Schweingruber (eds). Center for Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.