Counting fun

This is a lesson on counting that takes 30 minutes. It is a good whole group activity for beginning counting, (forwards and backwards), and numeral recognition 1-10 to use early in the year. It is also good for math in literature. The activity can be extended as a counting game to use individually or small group during work stations.

A lesson plan for grade K Mathematics

By Karen McNeely

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Related pages

• "Shaping up" with ordinal numbers: This lesson teaches students ordinal numbers through literature, and a visual memory game, and it reviews shapes, colors, and ordinal numbers with a listening and following-directions assessment.
• Bunny addition: This lesson integrates language arts, music, and math. The children will listen to the story Count on Bunnies. They will be given the opportunity to act out the story and solve bunny equations. After listening to the song "Five Young Rabbits," the children will take turns being rabbits and pantomiming the actions as the class sings. The children will combine the rabbits at the end of each verse to see how many rabbits have been added. Then they will work in pairs to create their own rabbit equations.
• Bugs, bugs, bugs: This lesson integrates writing and the study of insects by having the students create a book following the pattern of How Many Bugs in a Box? by David A. Carter.

Related topics

• Learn more about counting, mathematics, number sense, and read-alouds.

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Learning outcomes

Students should:

• practice counting 0-10.
• practice recognizing numerals 0-10.
• practice counting backwards from 10-0.
• practice making a set of ten.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

30 minutes

Materials/resources

• Book Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh
• Clean mayonnaise jar
• Ten paper mice, plain
• Ten paper mice with numerals 1-10
• Picture of a jar to use with individual or small group game
• Stuffed or rubber snake, if desired

Pre-activities

Introductory counting and numeral recognition.

Activities

1. Mouse Count is a counting book about a snake that finds a glass jar and wants to fill it with mice for his dinner. As he finds the mice he puts them in the jar and counts them until he gets to 10. The clever mice send the greedy snake after a big mouse. While he is gone, the wise mice tip the jar over and “uncount” themselves and escape. The big mouse turns out to be a rock, and the snake has zero mice for dinner. As you read the book, put a plain mouse in the jar and have the children count with you. When the mice escape, have the children count backwards as the mice “uncount” themselves, and remove the mice.
2. Afterwards you could have the children put the numbered mice in the jar in order, and then take them out as you “uncount”.
3. If you wish to extend the activity to work stations, have a picture of a jar that the children can take turns putting the mice on and taking them off as they count forwards and backwards 0-10.

Assessment

As you read the book, observe who is participating in the counting. Those who do not participate may be checked individually later to determine if they cannot yet count to ten, or are shy and do not tend to participate in a large group. The game may be checked as the children play it, either individually or in a small group.