CountingandCardinalityLessonPlan

Kindergarten
AmandaChedid
TheCollegeofNewJersey

EssentialQuestions:Whataredifferentwayswecanrepresentanumber?

ContentStandards:
K.CC.A.3:Writenumbersfrom0to20.Representanumberofobjectswithawrittennumeral
0-20(with0representingacountofnoobjects).

K.CC.B.5:Counttoanswerhowmany?questionsaboutasmanyas20thingsarrangedina
line,arectangulararray,oracircle,orasmanyas10thingsinascatteredconfiguration;givena
numberfrom1-20,countoutthatmanyobjects.

LearningObjectivesandAssessments:

LearningObjectives Assessments

SWBATrepresentanumberofobjectsusinga
writtennumeral.
SWBATcounttoanswerhowmanyfruitsdid
theVeryHungryCaterpillareat?
Studentswillbegivenaworksheet
representingdifferentnumberoffruits.
Studentswillhavetowritehowmanyofeach
fruittheVeryHungryCaterpillarateandthen
thetotal.

SWBATusedifferentformats(drawing,
coloringatenframe,writingthenumber)to
representanumber.
Studentswillworkwithapartnertorolladie
andthentheywillhavetodrawthenumberof
dotsonthedie,colorinatenframetomatch
thenumberandwritethenumeral.
Anexitticketwillbegivenattheendofthe
lesson.Theexitticketwilldisplayawritten
numberandstudentswillbeaskedtofillina
tenframetomatchthenumber.

Materials:
TheVeryHungryCaterpillarBookByEricCarle
TheVeryHungryCaterpillarWorksheet
ShowItThreeWaysPowerpoint
ShowitThreeWaysWorksheet
Dice(Regulargradedice&largerainbowfoamdice)
Stackingcubecounters
Exitticketpapers
Pencils
Crayons

LessonBeginning:
TheVeryHungryCaterpillarwillbereadaloudtotheclass.Beforebeginningthebook,a
worksheetisgoingtobehandedoutwithafewquestionsrelatedtothestory.Wewillassigna
teacherhelpertodistributetheworksheets.Thestudentswillbetoldtolistentothestoryand
counthowmanyfruitsthecaterpillarateandrepresentitontheworksheet.Afterthestudents
finishtheworksheet,theywillbeaskedtoshowtheclasstheamountoffruitsthecaterpillarate
byholdinguptheirhandsandusingtheirfingerstorepresentthenumber.Bydoingthis,the
wholeclasscanparticipate.

PriorKnowledge:
StudentsmighthaveheardorreadthebookTheVeryHungryCaterpillarbeforeandmaybeable
torecallthefruitsheate.Inaddition,everyclassthereisanumberofthedaythatreflectsthe
numberofclasseswevehadintheschoolyear.Forthislesson,thenumberofthedaywillbe
seven.Theteacherswillaskthestudentstovolunteertocomeuptotheboardtorepresentthe
numberinseveraldifferentways.Thestudentscandrawtheactualnumberontheboard,they
canrepresentthenumberusingwordsortheycandrawapicture.

InstructionalPlan:
Tobeginthelesson,TheVeryHungryCaterpillarwillbereadtothestudents.(10+
minutes)
Then,thestudentswillfilloutaworksheetthatcorrespondstothebook.Thestudentswill
counthowmanyfruitthecaterpillareatsbeforeitturnsintoabutterfly.(5minutes)
Next,theteacherswillwriteaproblemontheboardandwillworktogetherwiththe
studentstosolveit.Thisproblemwillrelatetothenumberofthedaywhichwillbe
seven.Thenumbersevenrepresentsthenumberofclasseswehavehadintheschool
year.Studentswillbeaskedtorepresentthenumber7inmultipleways(ex.10frame
dots,7,tallymarks,seven,etc.)(5-7minutes)
Thestudentswillthenworkwithapartnertocompleteanactivitythatiscalled,ShowIt
ThreeWays.Inthisactivity,thestudentswillworkwithapartnerthattheteachers
choosetorolladiceandcountthedifferentnumbersusingtenframes.Theywill
representthenumberthattheyrolledbydrawingtheamountofdotsonthedice,placing
thecorrectnumberofcountersonthetenframeandwritingthenumeral.(20+minutes)
Aftereveryoneisfinishedtheworksheet,theteacherswillhavethreegroupssharetheir
answerswiththeclassandexplaintheirreasoning.(5minutes)
Then,oneteacherwillcollecttheworksheetwhiletheteacherhelperpassesouttheexit
ticket.Theteacherswillcollecttheexitticketswheneveryoneisfinished.(5minutes)

Differentiation:
DuringtheShowItThreeWaysactivity,thestudentswillhaveachoicetousemanipulatives.
Usingamorehands-onrepresentationwillbehelpfultostudentswhoneedamorevisualaid.
Studentswillalsobegiventheoptionofusingdifferentsizeddice,dependingonwhattheyfeel
mostcomfortablewith.Studentswillalsoworkwithapartnerandteacherswillwalkaroundthe
classroomtoprovideone-on-oneassistancetoanystudent(s)thatmayneedit.Studentswillalso
receivedifferentexitslipsbasedontheirlevelofunderstanding.Studentswhoaremore
advancedwillreceiveexitslipswithlargernumbersonthem.

Questions:
1. HasanyonereadTheVeryHungryCaterpillarbefore?
2. Canyoushowusonyourhands,howmanyapplesthecaterpillarate?
3. Canyoushowusonyourhands,howmanypearsthecaterpillarate?
4. Canyoushowusonyourhands,howmanyplumsthecaterpillarate?
5. Canyoushowusonyourhands,howmanystrawberriesthecaterpillarate?
6. Canyoushowusonyourhands,howmanyorangesthecaterpillarate?
7. Canyoushowusonyourhands,howmanywatermelonsthecaterpillarate?
8. Whocantellmethetotalnumberoffruitstheveryhungrycaterpillarate?
a. Howdidyousolvethatquestion?
9. Howcanweshowthenumberofthedayindifferentways?
10. Whatwasthebiggestnumberyourolledonthedie?
a. Canyoucomeuptotheboardandexplainthethreewaysyoushowedthe
number?

ClassroomManagement:
Duringthelesson,ifthereareanybehavioralissueswewilladdressthemimmediately.Ifa
studenttendstocalloutinthemiddleofthelesson,wewilltellthemthattheotherstudentsneed
afairchancetoanswerthequestionsaswell.Wewillalsogivethatstudentanopportunityatthe
endofthelessontohelpcollectthematerialssothattheyhaveachancetoparticipateandget
upoutoftheirseatiftheybehaveproperlythroughouttherestofthelesson.Ifotherstudents
becomeofftaskwewillmonitortheirdeskduringindependentandgroupwork.Whileone
teacherisdoinganactivityinfrontoftheclassroom,theotherteacherwillwalkaroundthe
classroomtomakesurethestudentsarestayingontask.

Transitions:
Wewillassignastudenttobetheteacherhelperandthisstudentwillpassouttheworksheets
duringourlesson.Thiswillmakethelessonmoretimeefficient.Wewillalsosay,eyesover
hereandtheclasswillrespondbysaying,eyesoverherewhenwewanttotransitiontothe
nextactivity.

Closure:
Attheendofthelesson,thestudentswillbehandedanexitticket.Individually,theywillbetold
tocompletethetenframetomatchthenumberontheirexitticket.Theticketwillhaveone
problemonitthatisrelatedtotheactivitythestudentsplayedduringthelessontoassesstheir
knowledgeofcountingandcardinality.Inaddition,therewillbethreesmileyfacesandstudents
willbeaskedtocirclewhichsmileyfacerepresentshowtheydidinmathtoday(onesad,one
indifferent,onesmileyface).Onceeveryoneisfinished,theexitticketswillbecollectedand
reviewedbytheteacher(s)inordertogaugewhichstudentsmayneedfurtherreview.

 RationaleandResearch

Evidence of books in elementary classrooms is very common. Everyday, educators use

books to teach reading, language comprehension, social studies and science. However, itisnot

as common for teachers to use them as supportive materials for mathematics. That is due to

teachers underestimating the value of books and literature in mathematical instruction. In the

article Journeying into Mathematics through Storybooks, the author wanted to utilize

storybooks to assist kindergarten teachers in developing strategies that would foster a more

positive attitude towards math for their students as well as improve their overall achievement in

the subject. Children are often challenged by math at a young age which creates a negative

connotation of the subject for yearstocome.Itisimportantforteacherstoengagetheirstudents

in the classroom in all grades and childrens books can be used to spark student interest inany

subject.

Aseducators,itiscrucialtobeawareofthedifferentlearnersyouhaveinyourclassroom.

Some may be logical or mathematical learners and will easily grasp the topic at hand. However,

you must also accommodate more visual/spatial, interpersonalandlinguisticlearners. Readinga

storybookaloudandshowingthemthepicturescanhelpintroducethemathematicaltopicand/or

lesson. The use of books in mathematics can be especially beneficial to those who may have

difficulties grasping the essential question or main idea of a math unit. They may not

understand the purpose for why they are learning a new mathematical strategy but storybooks

can help them process it in their own way. Wilburnestated,Thestorybookswouldalsohelpthe

students imagine a concrete situation thatwouldreflecttheprocessesandproductsofmathem.

(Wilburne,p.234)Booksareagreatwaytocreatelastingconnectionsforyourstudentsandmath.

You may find that your students can easily recallastrategyortopicbecausetheycanremember

detailsinthestorybookyoureadtothem.

For ourmathlessonwewantedtoimplementthispracticeandstrategy.Wechosetoread

the storybook called The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We wanted to utilize the storybook to invoke
an interest and engage our students. The storybook was used as an introduction to counting.

Counting was also built upon throughout the lesson with other various activities and games to

meettheneedsofmultiplelearnersandintelligences.

As a supplement to the storybook, students were given a corresponding worksheet

where they had to count how many fruits the caterpillar ate before it turnedintoabutterfly.One

of the teachers involved in the research study said, The most important change I made as a

result of this project was to implement more problem-posing questions during the read-aloud

session: these questions were definitely effective in helping the students understand the

mathematical concepts (Wilburne, p.235). Posing questions about a storybook can help the

students work through their thinking by analyzing the concepts of thestoryanddevelopingnew

ideas. Relating a lesson to a book can make the lesson more personable to the students. They

can comparethestoryandnewconceptstoreal-worldsituations,whichwillhelpthemimplement

the concept outside of the classroom. The students could use the book to count the number of

fruits using a specific sequence rather than just simply counting in their head. The students can

understand why they are counting instead of just receiving a number problem. They are able to

relatethemathproblemtothestoryanditgivesthemmoreofapurposetosolvetheproblem.

Prior to reading the JourneyingintoMathematicsthroughStorybooksarticle,wewerea

part of the group that underestimated the use of storybooks and literature in mathematics. It is

common for people to only associate mathematicswithnumbersand/orwordproblemsbecause

of your owneducationalhistoryandmemoriesofyourpreviousmathematicslessons.However,it

is important for educators to continuously think outside the box and try new strategies for

engaging theirstudentsandreachingalldifferenttypesoflearners.Implementingstorybookscan

makemathematicsamoreenjoyableexperienceforthewholeclassroom,includingteachers!

 WorksCited

Wilburne,J.,Napoli,M.,Keat,J.,Dile,K.,Trout,M.,&Decker,S.(2007).Journeyinginto
MathematicsthroughStorybooksAKinderqartenStory.TeachingChildrenMathematics,14(4),
232-237.Retrievedfromhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/41199123