Counting Frames Years K - 2

Summary This activity shows something of the flexibility of Poly Plug. The same activity can be used over and over again to investigate counting by different sized groups. This way of using an activity is called Threading. The colourful, tactile presentation helps children develop a visualisation of what is happening when they are counting in groups. Materials One Poly Plug each One calculator each

Procedure A red board with some or all its plugs removed makes an excellent counting frame. They can be used individually, in small groups, or as the whole class. I wonder how many there will be if we put all our counting frames together in a line. Asking the children to estimate first is a feature which encourages learning. Having estimated, they want to check. The gaps themselves can be counted but plugging in with yellow/blue plugs to build up a counting sequence adds a visual and kinaesthetic dimension to the learning. For example, the image above shows counting by fives. Alternating colours highlights the fives and also encourages counting by ten. The boards themselves encourage counting by twenty-fives. Small cards can be added along the line as markers to show numerals for the count as it grows. Another variation is for the children to skip count on their calculator as the counting sequence builds up. How could we use our calculator to check our answer? Partnering this activity with the calculator game Predict A Count strengthens the learning even more.

Content 1:1 correspondence counting estimating number exploring large numbers group (or skip) counting making/recording groups of 10 mathematical conversation multiplication - array model number line - ordering, operations pattern recognition recording - calculator visual and kinaesthetic representation of number

Here the red board has been masked to introduce counting by threes. Well that's what we think we are using it for. Children don't necessarily see things our way. Or perhaps it is that they see more than us. This is illustrated in a story titled Counting Frames & Highest Number in the Stories section. The red boards in the story were masked to introduce counting by twos.