Math in the White House

This plan uses an online tour of the White House to reinforce the concept of tallying.

A lesson plan for grades K–1 Mathematics

By Bunnie R. Brewer, Missy Colborn, Kathy Hale, Kim Roberson, and Emily White

Learn more

• Historical tour of the White House View the different rooms of the White House
• White House facts History and details about the White House
• Contacting the White House Send comments and questions to the White House

Related pages

• Solid graphing: The students will review solid figures using a baggie of assorted snack mix (cones, cubes, cylinders, and spheres) and will begin a vertical bar graph showing the number of each solid figure in a bag of assorted snack mix.
• Estimating quantities: Students will estimate items individually. As a whole group, they will check to determine the closest guess.
• Jack-o-Light: We use pumpkins to demonstrate that fire needs air to burn. This goes really well with Fire Safety Week and our pumpkin unit. Also, we 'guesstimate' how many pumpkin seeds are in the pumpkin. We roast them afterwards by following a recipe. You can also create a Kids Pix picture of pumpkins.

Related topics

• Learn more about White House, arithmetic, counting, data analysis, estimation, mathematics, and tallying.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• demonstrate an understanding of tallying
• use tallying as a means of gathering information
• use gathered information to make comparisons

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2 hours

Materials/resources

• paper
• pencils
• crayons
• large picture of the White House
• Homework Tally Sheet
• large sheet of paper for class tally
• map of the United States

Technology resources

computer with internet access

Pre-activities

Show picture of the White House. Discuss the location in reference to North Carolina, the best way to get there, and the people who live there.

Activities

Day 1

1. Take an online tour of the White House using the glimpse tour.
2. Let students talk about their favorite room in the White House.
3. Students take a sheet of paper and fold it in half. On the left side, they name and illustrate their favorite room in their own home. On the right side, name and illustrate their favorite room of the White House.
4. After the drawings are complete, students will vote for their favorite room by a show of hands. Demonstrate how to display the same information using tally marks.
5. Display these drawings in the classroom.
6. Explain and assign Homework Tally Sheet (see attachment for explanation).

Day 2

1. Review tallying. Make class tally chart using two of the items from each child’s homework sheet. Do class estimation of the number of windows, rooms, bathrooms, doors, chimneys, elevators, and staircases in the White House using the classroom tally sheet. Go to the White House Facts page for the information.
2. Compare the actual information found in your tour to your class estimations. Email the President, Vice President, and First Lady asking for information on their favorite room.

Assessment

• Results from the independent classroom tallying
• Completed drawings
• Teacher observation

Supplemental information

Comments

This lesson can be modified for kindergarten through third grades. This lesson can be extended to include pets, families, color words, etc.