While I was away for the summer break a new book found it's way to my desk Teddy Bear Math by Barbara Barbiere McGrath. This book can engage children in a delightful exploration of counting, estimation, sorting, addition and graphing. The rhyming verse encourages readers to grab handfuls of Teddy Bear Counters for a variety of activities. Even if you do not have a set of Teddy Bear Counters for children to use along with reading the book I think it is a great addition to your classroom library.
An earlier book by McGrath, Teddy Bear Counting is a perfect companion to the new title. Together children will build Number Sense and develop counting skills.
Teaching Tip
Substitute beans as an inexpensive substitute for the teddy bear manipulative. I suggest dried white beans that can easily be spray painted red, yellow, purple, blue, orange and green then used for all of the counting and sorting activities.
Showing posts with label counting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label counting. Show all posts
Friday, September 9, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Ten Flashing Fireflies
"What do we see in the summer night?
Ten flashing fireflies burning bright!
Catch the one twinkling there
Like a star.
One flashing firefly in our jar."
One of my favorite childhood memories is sitting on my grandmother's porch at dusk waiting for the fireflies. Some nights all of the cousins would happily run around and try to catch them other nights we would lazily watch as in unison they seemed to float into the tree tops.
Ten Flashing Fireflies by Philemon Sturges beautifully depicts this summer ritual in an imaginative counting book that is the story of a brother and sister catching and counting fireflies then releasing them back into the night.
Teaching Tip
Counting seems such a simple concept from our adult perspective, but for the young child learning to count can be a daunting task. For starters they must learn the number names and the counting sequence, then it gets more complicated with concepts such as cardinality (knowing that the last number said identifies the total number of objects in a group) and stability (knowing that rearranging the position of objects in a group does not change the cardinality). To help youngsters master these complex mathematical ideas we must give them many opportunities to count. Reading books such as Ten Flashing Fireflies can help. Luckily, children often like books read to them over and over again, so each time we read with them we can ask questions that help them learn to count. First, have them count along with the characters. Then, ask them to predict what comes next. For example, when the children have three fireflies in their jar then catch one more ask how many fireflies are now in the jar. Have objects available such as beans, pennies or some other small item and have children use them to represent the fireflies. They can add a bean to a jar (or pile) each time another firefly is captured. After reading they can count the objects again and again.
What other ideas might you have for using Ten Flashing Fireflies to teach basic counting concepts?
Ten flashing fireflies burning bright!
Catch the one twinkling there
Like a star.
One flashing firefly in our jar."
One of my favorite childhood memories is sitting on my grandmother's porch at dusk waiting for the fireflies. Some nights all of the cousins would happily run around and try to catch them other nights we would lazily watch as in unison they seemed to float into the tree tops.
Ten Flashing Fireflies by Philemon Sturges beautifully depicts this summer ritual in an imaginative counting book that is the story of a brother and sister catching and counting fireflies then releasing them back into the night.
Teaching Tip
Counting seems such a simple concept from our adult perspective, but for the young child learning to count can be a daunting task. For starters they must learn the number names and the counting sequence, then it gets more complicated with concepts such as cardinality (knowing that the last number said identifies the total number of objects in a group) and stability (knowing that rearranging the position of objects in a group does not change the cardinality). To help youngsters master these complex mathematical ideas we must give them many opportunities to count. Reading books such as Ten Flashing Fireflies can help. Luckily, children often like books read to them over and over again, so each time we read with them we can ask questions that help them learn to count. First, have them count along with the characters. Then, ask them to predict what comes next. For example, when the children have three fireflies in their jar then catch one more ask how many fireflies are now in the jar. Have objects available such as beans, pennies or some other small item and have children use them to represent the fireflies. They can add a bean to a jar (or pile) each time another firefly is captured. After reading they can count the objects again and again.
What other ideas might you have for using Ten Flashing Fireflies to teach basic counting concepts?
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Counting Books
My previous entry was for older students, so today I'll offer you ideas for the little ones. Early childhood is typically considered to be when the child is age 0 to 5 (or 6) depending upon which expert that you are listening to. While the exact age span may be in dispute, the fact that the human brain grows as a rapid rate during the early years is well-known. During this period parents anxiously watch for signs that their children are reaching certain developmental milestones. Long before a child can add or subtract they are forming ideas that serve as the foundation for learning math concepts. To support the development of numeracy parents and early grade teachers can expose children to counting books.
Teaching Tip
Young children need many opportunities to count. At home they can be involved in counting everyday objects such as the number of eggs in a carton, setting the dinner table with the correct number of plates, or while helping to straighten the house counting the number of cushions on the sofa. In day-care or pre-kindergarten classes children can count along as the adult distributes snacks or toys. With counting books, the children may not be able to read the text, but you can ask them to re-tell the story from the pictures counting as they revisit the pages.
Teaching Tip
Young children need many opportunities to count. At home they can be involved in counting everyday objects such as the number of eggs in a carton, setting the dinner table with the correct number of plates, or while helping to straighten the house counting the number of cushions on the sofa. In day-care or pre-kindergarten classes children can count along as the adult distributes snacks or toys. With counting books, the children may not be able to read the text, but you can ask them to re-tell the story from the pictures counting as they revisit the pages.
Friday, April 1, 2011
100th Day of School
The 100th day of school does not mean much to upper elementary students--other than the fact that they are that much closer to summer break. Kindergarten and First Grade students however, anticipate the 100th day of their first school-year with growing excitement. A sampling of the many pieces of literature that can be used to help build that excitement is shown below.
Teaching Tip:
Plan a 100th day celebration. Have each children bring in small zip lock bag filled with a different collection of 100 items. One student might count out paperclips, another pieces of cereal, or pennies etc. They are limited only by their imagination, having 100 of the item and what will fit in the bag. During the day have students explore how many different way they can group their items and count to 100 (1's, 5's, 10's etc).
Teaching Tip:
Plan a 100th day celebration. Have each children bring in small zip lock bag filled with a different collection of 100 items. One student might count out paperclips, another pieces of cereal, or pennies etc. They are limited only by their imagination, having 100 of the item and what will fit in the bag. During the day have students explore how many different way they can group their items and count to 100 (1's, 5's, 10's etc).
Thursday, March 31, 2011
One is a snail, Ten is a Crab
Author April Pulley Sayre has written a book that takes the classic "counting by feet" problem to a whole new level. Beautiful illustrations of beach scenes depict various sea creatures. In the beginning the reader is simply counting by the number of legs in each scene. After the initial introductions, we see different combinations of legs that help us count up to 100.
Teaching Tips:
The scenario lends itself to a rich problem-solving experience where student can write and exchange original problems based on the book characters. You can find other teaching ideas and sample student work related to this book in the Teaching Children Mathematics article, Legs, Legs, Legs by David and Phyllis Whitin. In my humble opinion David and Phyllis are the math and literature gurus and can always be counted on for rich ideas that work great in the classroom. I've included one of their teaching resources below.
Teaching Tips:
The scenario lends itself to a rich problem-solving experience where student can write and exchange original problems based on the book characters. You can find other teaching ideas and sample student work related to this book in the Teaching Children Mathematics article, Legs, Legs, Legs by David and Phyllis Whitin. In my humble opinion David and Phyllis are the math and literature gurus and can always be counted on for rich ideas that work great in the classroom. I've included one of their teaching resources below.
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