Building Number Sense

Building Awareness of Distance: climbing, reaching, going for a walk, counting steps, crawling, pushing toys, throwing balls Weight: putting away groceries, using plastic vs. metal toys, carrying rocks, putting away toys, climbing Patterns: setting the table, playing with Legos, planting a garden, climbing, stairs, coloring, cutting, drawing, crafts, music, skipping Frequency: taking turns, listening to music, playing music, counting marbles/cars/steps/houses, etc. Time: waiting on snack/recess/lunch time, noticing the position of the sun, watching the seasons change, counting down days to a holiday, playing music, reading clocks Equations: playing teeter-totter, playing with sand or water, building with blocks or Legos, balancing on balance board or beam, trading objects with friends, serving food, sharing portions **Children will develop symbolic thinking skills ONLY after they have experienced sufficient learning experiences with real objects in the physical world.**

Where to Start?

!. One-to-One Correspondence *Floor Number Line with tape- NO NUMBERS, just dots to represent numbers. Practice counting aloud as they walk number line. One step per number set. They will eventually begin to recognize that the dots represent specific numbers. *Stepping Stones- non-skid circles or squares with dots representing numbers. Have them count aloud as they walk to each stone. *Count Walking Steps (without line or shapes)- count each step aloud as they walk. This is harder than it sounds! Those that dont get it yet will count as they walk but they wont have one-to-one correspondence. They should NOT move on to other steps til they begin to understand this concept! *Pattern Tapping- read a pattern and tap it out as they read it. For example, say, circle, diamond, diamond, circle, diamond, diamond as they tap a finger (or clap, slap legs, snap, etc.) for each word theyre saying. Once they can do this easily, change the tap to represent the different pattern symbols. For example, say, circle, diamond, diamond, circle, diamond, diamond and tap, clap, clap, tap, clap, clap. *Throw and Catch- toss a beanbag (sponge, Nerf ball, etc.) back and forth between two people (or from one hand to the other for one person- this uses both sides of the brain!) and count aloud for each toss. They should be able to say one number per toss before moving on!

2. Understanding Combinations *Target Throw- toss beanbag a short distance, estimate how many steps away it is, then walk and count steps to target. *Walk Number Line (with dots or numbers)- Direct them to take __ steps. Count aloud as they walk. Then direct them to take __ more steps and note what number they land on. Also, take steps to certain number, then ask, How many more steps to ___? Estimate, then walk. *Totaling of Objects- count handful of objects, then grab more and count total. Also, get several objects, then estimate how many more are needed to reach ___ number. *Number Line- take steps forward and backward on number line.

3. Number Concepts *Use 5-frame with dots til child recognizes number sets immediately by sight alone. Also, How many spaces are empty? on 5-frame. *Use 10-frame once 5-frame is mastered. Child should recognize by sight each number set, plus be able to identify how many empty spaces there are by sight. *Dice and Domino Games- roll dice or select domino (dice for beginners, dominoes for those that have mastered) and say the number represented by the dots. Should be done until its automatic. With dominoes, child can say number in each box first, then how many there are in all.

*Plate Flash- show paper plates with dot representations of numbers. Arrange dots in arranged lines (like 5 and 10-frames), in clusters (like on dice or dominoes), in a scatter (random), and in patterns (two rows of three, 1 row of 4 and a row of 2, etc.). Children can play plate flash with each other until recognition is automatic. *ABACUS! Introduce abacus, but dont tell child there are ten beads per line. Use following games until they become automatic: Move a few beads at a time, ask child how many Show me ___ (single-digit) What number is this? (double-digit) Show me __ (double-digit) Show me __ then show me __ more (addition) Show me __ then take away __ (subtraction) Resources Needed: *Removable tape for number lines *dot stickers *beanbags or sponges *non-skid surface *dice

*5-frames and 10-frames (included) *abacus (abaci?!)

*dominoes *paper plates Websites:

http://illuminations.nctm.org Click activities --LOTS of online interactive activities (look for 5 and 10-frames, concentration, and abacus especially!) http://www.ablongman.com/vandewalleseries Blackline masters of math activities http://www.center.edu/MathTheirWay.shtml Blackline masters of math activities