Michaela Charfauros

Comparing Numbers- More Than, Less Than, or Equal To?

Introductory Information
Grade: Kindergarten
Topic: Comparing numbers- more than, less than, or equal to?
Standard:
K.CC.6: Identify whether the number or objects in one group is greater than, less than,
or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and
counting strategies.
Objective:
Students will be able to look at two numbers and determine which is greater than, less
than, or equal to the other.
Assessment:
Formative assessment having students come up to the Smartboard or answering verbal
questions. Another formal assessment the students will complete is a worksheet that
asks students to come up with numbers that are one less, and one more than original
numbers.
Gearing down:
If students are having a hard time comparing the numbers, try having them represent
the numbers with objects on their papers and use one-to-one correspondence to count
and decide.
Gearing up:
Challenge students to come up to the smart board and come up with their own numbers
to compare. Maybe try using higher two digit numbers or three digit numbers.
Materials:
Smartboard
One more, one less worksheet
Launch
How the lesson will begin:
When we have two numbers, we can always say which one is bigger or smaller. Or
sometimes they are equal to each other, or the same. Who can give me some
examples?
Questions asked:
How can we tell which number is bigger?
What strategies can we use?
Why would we need to be able to compare numbers in real life?
Context used:
Manipulatives
Models
 Lesson Implementation/Instruct
Lesson format: Direct instruction
Vocabulary:
More than/bigger than
Less than/smaller than
Equal to/same
Instruction:
Some ways that we can check to see if a number is more than, less than, or equal to
another number is by counting. Lets say we want to compare the number 14 to the
number 19. We can start counting. 1,2,.12,13,14. We got to 14. Have we passed 19
yet? No? Lets keep going. 14,15,16,17,18,19. 19! Did 19 come before or after 14? After!
This means 19 is BIGGER or more than 14.
Another way is to match them up. If we are given the number 5, we can draw out 5
objects. At this point, draw out 5 objects. Lets compare it to the number 8. So we
would need to draw out 8 objects. Lets draw out the 8 objects right under the 5 objects.
We can see that this row (5 objects) has less than this row (8 objects). Now we can say
that 5 is less than 8.
Write numbers on the smart board. Ask students to come up with a number on their
own that is more than/less than/equal to the one that I wrote on the Smart Board.
Call on various students to have them share their answers. Have a students say their
answers in a number sentence, such as __ is more than/less than/equal to __. Have
student also explain how they know their answer is right.
Ask questions like, Is there only one answer to this? Is your neighbor going to have the
same answer as you?
Summarize
Closing:
There are many different ways that we can compare numbers. In real life, we compare
numbers all the time. For example, when we are shopping, we usually want to buy the
item from the store that is cheapest. Or, when we are going somewhere, we usually
want to take the shortest way to get there.
We have to remember to look at all of the digits in the number when comparing them.
Sometimes numbers want to trick us by having the same numbers in them!!
Student reflection:
Give students opportunities to share with the class the strategies they used when
comparing numbers and what worked best for them.
Questions that check for student understanding:
How do we know if a number is more than/less then/equal to another number?
Formative Assessment:
Have students go back to their seats and complete the one more/ one less worksheet.
Remind students to use the strategies that we just talked about if they get stuck.
Collection of these worksheets will allow me to see who is on the right track, and who
needs a little more support and instruction.
 Reflection

After the implementation of this lesson, I believe that the students now have a deeper
and more solid understanding of how to compare two numbers. The students have previously
been introduced to this concept, but my cooperating teacher specifically asked me to do my
math lesson on this concept because the students were having a hard time grasping it. I have
seen the students try to apply their knowledge when it comes to comparing numbers, and they
were struggling before. During and after my lesson, I felt that a majority of the group had a
better grasp of the concept and how to use various strategies to compare numbers.
There were two strategies that I went over with the students to help them compare
numbersdrawing a picture and/or a model, and counting to the numbers at hand. During my
lesson, one of the students also suggested that we could use a number line to compare
numbers. Of course, this strategy would work perfectly fine as well. By this students offering up
this suggestion, it allowed me to see that he understood how to compare numbers effectively.
One challenge that I ran into was that some students were having a hard time
comparing numbers that were both two digits. One student had said that if the number has two
digits, then it is the bigger number of the two. While this holds true if comparing it to a number
that is a single digit, they had a hard time when they were both two digit numbers. The
kindergarten students dont really have a good hold on place value yet, and some are still
struggling to count to 100 on their own. This posed a problem during my instruction, because
they werent able to look at the number and compare the numbers in the tens place, yet alone
do any counting to figure it out either.
Although though this class, I have already learned and have been told just how
important vocabulary knowledge is, my cooperating teacher really solidified that to me when
talking about how my lesson went. We were reflecting on how some students did with the
formative worksheet after the lesson, and she offered me the insight that some of the students
are mentally capable of doing the math, but they just are not aware of what is being asked of
them. This is where the vocabulary knowledge would be helpful for them. During my lesson, I
kept asking my students to state their answers in a number sentence, such as 9 is more than
3. As time went on, students retreated back to old vocabulary and were saying sentences such
as 2 is smaller than 4. While they are not wrong, I kept pushing for them to use more
mathematical terms.
While my students were completing the worksheet after the lesson, it gave me plenty of
opportunities to practice my effective questioning. Before this class, I never realized how much
I kind of tell children the answers. Through effective questioning, I am better able to see where
students go wrong, and can make a better decision on how to get them to the end goal and
what strategies I should use to help them understand.
By observing my students work on their worksheet after the lesson, I was able to get a
good assessment of what children grasped the concept, what ones needed a little guidance,
and what ones really needed more instruction. As a whole, the class has come a long way in
their understanding of this concept, but there are still some students who are a little behind,
and this formative assessment gave me more insight on who those students are.