What do you do when you wake up feeling lonely, crummy, yucky, and sad?  Count your friends and you will feel better!  This is a nice counting book to share with your children.

Materials

• Rebus Gorp recipe cards
• Gorp ingredients for the class
• Dice

Vocabulary

• More and less

Before Reading the Story

           Do several fingerplays or songs that require some counting (5 Little Ducks, 1,2,3,4,5 I Caught a Fish Alive).

Mathematics/Number & Operations; develops increasing ability to count in sequence to 10 and beyond.

Reading the Story

            As you read the book, stop and have the children help count (Example; On the page for 7, count the aunts and uncles and the cars.  Are there more people or more cars?  On the eight page after counting the playmates, ask what the girl is holding in her hand, What is it used for?)

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest and involvement in listening to and discussing a variety of fiction and non-fiction and poetry. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.

After Reading the Story

            Bring in a dice.  Take turns rolling the dice and having the children count how many dots.  Then let the child choose a movement for everyone to do that many times. (Kerry you rolled 3.  Kerry wants to do 3 kicks, everybody kick and count 1,2,3.)

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects. AND Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; participates actively in games, outdoor play, and other forms of exercise that enhance physical fitness.

Discovery

            Make gorp using the rebus cards to count out ingredients.

Literacy/Print Awareness & Concepts; develops growing understanding of different functions of forms of print such as signs, letters, newspapers, lists, messages, and menus. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.

Music and Movement

            Have the children start in a squatting position and begin to count 1-10.  As they count, they begin to stand up slowly until they get to 10 and are on tip toe with hands in the air.  Now start a 10 and work down to 1 getting smaller and smaller as they count.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; develops increasing ability to count in sequence to 10 and beyond.

            Teach the children the finger play 1,2,3,4,5 I Caught a Fish Alive.

           1,2,3,4,5                                    Hold up fingers as you count

           I caught a fish alive                      Point towards yourself

           6, 7, 8,9,10                                Hold up fingers as you count

           Then I threw him back again!    Pretend to throw fish

           What made you let him go?         Shrug shoulders up

           Because he bit my finger so!        Hands on hips with mad face

           Which finger did he bite?             Look of  surprise

           The little pinkie on the right        Hold up little pinkie and look sad

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems.

Blocks

          Challenge the children to make a set of stairs using 10 blocks.  What else can you make using only 10 blocks?

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem.

Art

            Have the children trace around their hands, or they can trace around their friends hands.  Encourage them to embellish their hands with fingernails, rings, and bracelets or watches at the wrist.  When they are finished decorating their hands, show them how to write the numbers 1-10 and put a number above each finger.

Literacy/Early Writing; experiments with a growing variety of writing tools and materials, such as pencils, crayons, and computers. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Library and Writing

            Put out a variety of flannel board shapes and let the children make patterns or count.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurements; enhances abilities to recognize, duplicate, and extend simple patterns using a variety of materials.

Sand and Water

            Put sand or water in the table.  Ask the children to use a measuring cup and count how many scoops it takes to fill a bowl.  Use several size measuring cups and a variety of containers to fill.  Which containers hold the most?  Which container holds the least?

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use language to compare numbers of objects with terms such as more, less, greater than, fewer, equal to.

Math and Manipulatives

            Make a counting book with the children.  Give each child a paper with a number on it.  The children can draw or cut out pictures of objects to represent their number.  Do numbers 1-10.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.

Dramatic Play

            Have the children set the table for two, three, and four.  They will have to count to make sure they have enough dishes and silverware.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.

Outdoor Play

           Play Mother-May-I?  All the children stand at one side of the area.  The children take turns asking “Mother may I take (3) (jumps)?  Mother then says yes, or no you may only take (2) jumps.  The children work their way across to the other side of the play yard counting different movements. (Slides, tippy toe walks, giant steps, skips, jumps, twirls).

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects. AND Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; shows increasing levels of proficiency, control, and balance in walking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, marching, and galloping.

Transitions

            Have the children count how many steps it takes to get from point A to point B.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; demonstrates increasing interest and awareness of numbers and counting as a means for solving problems and determining quantity.