Odd & even exploration

This lesson will involve students in using manipulatives to explore even and odd numbers.

A lesson plan for grade K Mathematics

By Alta Allen

Learn more

• Even and Odd Numbers AAAmath.com has great activities to use for a variety of skills. This is one for odd and even exploration.

Related pages

• Even human beings are odd!: The lesson will broaden students' knowledge of even and odd numbers through interesting activities and by relating that knowledge through real-life experiences.
• Join them together/Take them away: The teacher will introduce beginning addition concepts of joining two sets together. The teacher will introduce beginning subtraction concepts of taking away from a set.
• Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate!: Using chocolate as a theme, students will become involved in reading, writing, math, word study/spelling and other developmentally appropriate (integrated) activities. The unit includes centers for the classroom along with whole group activities.

Related topics

• Learn more about even numbers, mathematics, number sense, odd numbers, and read-alouds.

Help

Please read our disclaimer for lesson plans.

Legal

Learning outcomes

Students will begin to explore even and odd numbers of objects.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

60 minutes

Materials/resources

• one Even or Odd? worksheet per student
• one Even or Odd House Search worksheet per student
• Connecting cubes
• one Are these Even Steven or Odd Todd? activity sheet
• Even Steven & Odd Todd by Kathryn Cristaldi
• Transparency of Strips Master attachment

Technology resources

• Computer with Graphers software. (Sunburst Product)
• Computer with Kid Pix Studio Deluxe (Broderbund Product) or any application that will stamp/insert pictures and then the ability to type numeral and number word.
• Computer with internet access
• Computer with spreadsheet to create a hundreds board for shading the odd and even numbers. (Excel document is attached

Pre-activities

• Read Even Steven & Odd Todd by Kathryn Cristaldi. As story is being read, ask students to make predictions about what will happen next. They make predictions and then read on to see if their predictions were correct. Also a good strategy to use as the story is being read is to write Even Steven’s numbers in one column on the board and Odd Todd’s numbers in another column on the board.
• After the story is read, discuss where we see numbers everyday in our lives and how today we are going to determine if these numbers are most like Even Steven’s numbers or Odd Todd’s numbers.

Activities

Part 1: Scoops of Cubes

1. After reading and discussing Even Steven & Odd Todd by Kathryn Cristaldi ask students to use both hands to scoop connecting cubes from a large container. They then stack the cubes in as many pairs as possible. Ask them to count how many cubes they have.
2. Write “Numbers with Leftover Cubes” on the board or use the computer and a projection device. Say, “Raise your hand if you had one cube left over.” Record their numbers on the board or using a computer projection device and a word processing program.
3. After the list is complete, identify these numbers as odd numbers. Emphasize that all of these had one cube left over.
4. Say, “Raise your hand if you were able to find pairs for all of your cubes.” Tell the students that these numbers are even numbers because they came out even when put into pairs that is, there were none left over. Write a second heading, “Numbers with None Leftover.” As the students tell you their even numbers, write them in the second list.
5. Collect the cubes. Ask students to take a second grab of cubes. This time they should use only one hand. Then repeat this procedure.

Part 2: Even or Odd?

1. Place nine cubes (four cubes in one row and five cubes directly below) on the Strips Master Transparency. Ask, “Are there an even or odd number of cubes on the overhead? How do you know?”
2. Ask a student to count the number of cubes. Emphasize that one cube is not paired. Repeat with other numbers of cubes. Now put the cubes away and color eleven squares (five in one row and six in the other). Ask, “Is this number even or odd? Who can count the number of squares?”
3. Repeat with other numbers. Give each child two of the grid strips from the Strips Master. Ask students to color one strip to show an even number and the other strip to show an odd number.
4. Write two headings, “Even Numbers” and “Odd Numbers”, on the board. As the students finish their work, ask them to tape their models under the appropriate column and write the number each strip represents. When they are finished, ask:
   • “What do the strips in the even column have in common?”
   • “What do all the strips in the odd column have in common?”
   • Are these numbers in order from smallest to largest?”
5. Students should then complete Even or Odd? in class and Even or Odd House Search for homework.

Computer Activities

1. Using the program Graphers by Sunburst, have students choose an object, stamp the objects, and then sort the objects to determine if they are even or odd.
2. Use Kid Pix Studio Deluxe by Broderbund, have students stamp objects and then count the objects. Then using the alphabet tool, stamp the number on the slide. Also the number word can be placed on the slide using the text tool or the alphabet tool. These can be put together for a class slide show of odd and even numbers.
3. The assessment activity page can also be completed on the computer. Students could count the objects, type the number of the objects in the oval and then type the work odd or even in the text box. Are these Even Steven or Odd Todd
4. Older students could use a hundreds board spreadsheet and shade in the odd numbers one color and the even numbers another color. Attached as an excel document

Raising the Level

Have students add two groups/numbers together and discover the results:

• odd + odd = even
• even + even = even
• odd + even = odd
• even + odd = odd

Student can also explore and discover the results of subtracting odd and even numbers.

Assessment

• Sorting and classifying of objects using graphers.
• Sharing of work done during discussions.
• Informal Assessment: Even or Odd? Activity Page
• Formal Assessment: Are these Even Steven or Odd Todd? Activity Page
• Class Created Kid Pix Slide Show

Supplemental information

Other literature can be used to introduce the lesson are:

• Where’s That Insect? by Barbara Brenner and Bernice Chardiet
• The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle
• The Icky Bug Alphabet Book, by Jerry Pallotta
• Bugs, by Nancy Winslow Parker, and Joan Richards Wright
• Insects by Steve Parker
• Looking at Insects by David Suzuki, with Barbara Hehner

Comments

This lesson is Lesson 1 in the Thematic Unit Crawly Creatures from the Math Trailblazers Kindergarten Teacher Resource Book. (Kendall / Hunt Publishing Co.) Activities and Computer Integration Strategies have been added.