Learning Numbers
More Ideas for learning numbers
Children begin learning numbers from hearing numbers in conversations, nursery rhymes, songs, poems and picture books. Poems and/or books such as, "10 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" or "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Once I caught a fish alive", introduce children to the sounds of numbers.
As children grow, they experience relationships such as one mitten to one hand, one fork to one place mat and one cookie for one child. They then go on to be able to link one number with one object. Finally as they play with building number sets of objects children begin to have a number sense for that number.
Daily counting activities:
- Count name tags to see how many girls are absent,
how many boys, how many are present etc. - Count the boys, then the girls, how many all together
- Count how many words are in each line of the pocket chart
- Count pencils, scissors, glue sticks as you pass them out
- Say counting rhymes and finger plays
Five minute learning numbers activities:
- Estimate, then count how many items are in a jar
- Measure things with blocks, then count how many blocks
- Count items in stories
- Count pencils, scissors, glue sticks as you pass them out
- Match objects with the number of students - how do we know we have enough pencils?
Incorporate number sense and counting activities into themes,
music, and arts and crafts:
Instead of preparing all of a craft project before hand, have the children do the work. For example, give each child a paper plate and have the craft supplies in separate bowls on the table.
Say, "Put 5 pom poms on your paper plate, now put 5 popsicle sticks, 5 stars, etc. Glue the sets of 5 items on your paper to make a Spring (or whatever) picture."
Integrate learning numbers and operation experiences into step-by-step drawings. Use large paper and felts.
- E.g. number 6 - draw a circle as big as your paper, this is your pizza, now draw 6 pieces of cheese on the pizza, draw 6 tomato slices on the pizza, 6 chunks of pineapple etc.
- Draw 2 red apples on one tree, 3 green on the other, how many apples all together?
Activities to help children recognize numerals 0 - 9:
- Play card games
- Go on a classroom "3" hunt (or any number), find the number 3 and stand beside it
- Cut numerals out of grocery ads
- Have a special day... "Number 5 Day" - paint big fives, make the number 5 with dough...
- Play board games with older buddies, teach the older students to count slowly and touch the numbers as they say them
There are also many opportunities to increase the children's number sense as they participate in pattern and sorting activities.
Learning numbers games and skills...
Kindergarten Number Games:
Train Game
Five of Each
Ready, Set, Go
Bear Hike
What number skills do children need to know?
Number and Counting
Whole number operations (adding, subtracting, etc.)
Fractions
Go from learning numbers to previous page...
Math activities table of contents:
How to teach math successfully:
Teaching kindergarten and preschool math - how kids learn math
Kindergarten and preschool math - What skills do I teach?
Teaching math with manipulatives:
Teaching with math manipulatives- helping students get it...
Ten steps to teaching with math manipulatives - an example...
Best math manipulatives - choose products that teach more than one math concept
Teaching math vocabulary:
Vocabulary - how to teach math vocabulary
Specific areas of the math curriculum:
GEOMETRY & SPATIAL SENSE
GEOMETRY - What geometry and spatial skills should I teach? Geometry activities
ATTRIBUTE BLOCKS -Teach logical thinking, geometry and spacial sense
SORTING - Develop classification skills with kindergarten sorting games
CLASSIFICATION - teach classification vocabulary an skills with games
SYMMETRY -Teach early learners about symmetry
GEOMETRY GAMES - simple games that reinforce geometry concepts
PATTERN
Pattern 1- what pattern skills do students need to learn? Teaching tips
Pattern 2- ideas and games to recognize, create, copy and extend patterns
Pattern page three - help children know what you mean when you say"pattern"
NUMBER SENSE
Number Activities - how to provide experiences that build number sense
Learning Numbers - more activities to help children learn numbers
Number Games - how to improve children's number sense with easy games
Number Skills - what number skills do children need to know?
GRAPHING AND DATA ENTRY
Graphing 1 - what do I teach? how do kids collect data and organize it?
Graphing 2 - what do we graph? sample graphing lesson
Check out the SCIENCE section for more graphing and data collection ideas
MEASUREMENT
Teaching measurement - measurement skills and ideas to teach them
MONEY
Teach about money skills & activities
Teach about money with games
Teach about money with fundraising projects
CONNECT MATH AND LITERATURE
Math & literature connections - books increase mathematical thinking
Ten Apples Up On Top! - open-ended math activity with a Dr. Suess book...
10 Little Rubber Ducks - ideas to promote math with this wonderful Eric Carle story
1, 2, 3 to the Zoo - practice counting, making number sets, ordinal numbers and more
One Hundred Hungry Ants - practice counting larger numbers and comparing single file to sets of 10s
Share your favorite book that connects math to literature
Math index- just math pages
