Summary
This activity gives students opportunities to explore numbers and counting.
Materials
Additional Resources
- Book:
The Gummy Candy Counting Book, by Amy and Richard Hutchings;
ISBN 0-590-34127-8
Background for Teachers
Connections
Numbers (3, 6, 7, etc.) are adjectives. They are and should be used to
describe something, to tell how many objects or things there are. When
we do not use them in their complete sense, with their complete label, we
are not using them correctly. Teachers, and most importantly
kindergarten teachers, must insist students speak in complete sentences so
students hear and say the number with the label that the number
represents.
Kindergarten teachers are the first math teacher students ever have
and therefore the most important math teacher! Kindergarten teachers set
the foundation that all math concepts are then built upon. We cannot
afford or allow sloppy, incomplete, or hurried foundations to be built!
Kindergarten students need to be taught and allowed to explore
"numbers." They need to see that the quantity (the number) gets larger
and smaller depending on how many items are being counted because
that is what numbers do. Just because a student can count to ten does not
mean they fully understand numbers.
Rote counting does not mean a child has the understanding and skill
to count objects. It is so important for teachers to give children
opportunities to practice one-to-one-correspondence.
"Pigs in the Pen" allows students to become conscious of the
importance of the label. It also enables them to realize how many objects
they are counting and what the numbers actually represent.
Intended Learning Outcomes
5. Understand and use basic concepts and skills.
Instructional Procedures
Invitation to Learn
Listen carefully! What animal makes this sound? "Oink" Yes, a
pig! Look at the pig I've brought with me today. What if it was real?
What would it do? Yes, it would run all over the room. What would I
need so it wouldn't make a mess of our room? Yes, I'd need a pen.
Instructional Procedures
- Here is my pig pen (show tray).
- Place the pig in the pen and ask, "How many pigs are in the pen?"
- Call on a student. If they say, "One pig." Say, "Yes, exactly!" If
they just say, "One." Ask, "One what? One cookie? One bike?"
(The student should then self-correct by saying the complete
answer, "There is 1 pig in the pen." If they do not, then tell them,
"There is 1 pig in the pen.")
- Add 3 more pigs to the pen. Ask, "How many pigs are in the pen
now?" (Continue with the same questioning, leading students to
respond correctly, "There are 4 pigs in the pen.")
- Once you have worked up to 6 pigs, ask, "Is there 1 pig in the
pen?" Students will probably say, "No, there are 6 pigs in the
pen." Continue to ask if there is 1 pig in the pen. Point to 1 pig
and say, "There is 1 pig in the pen."
- Now ask, "Are there 2 pigs in the pen?" Again, students will
probably say no. Continue to ask. Finally point, or have a
student point, and say, "There are 2 pigs in the pen." Do not skip
this part!
- This may seem ridiculous, but… it is teaching number concept.
When you have 6 pigs, you also have 1 pig, 2 pigs, 3 pigs, 4 pigs,
and 5 pigs. A lack of this knowledge creates a faulty math
foundation. This is why we find fourth graders still thinking that
24 -- 16 = 2 in the one's column. They do not understand that if
you have 4 you do not have 6, therefore you cannot subtract 6
from 4.
- On other days… continue this same activity using a variety of
items: fish in a fish bowl (use goldfish crackers), cheerios in a
bowl (use real cheerios), Unifix® cubes on a mat, shoes on the
rug (use their shoes), students on the rug, books on the table, etc.
The more you do this, the more students will become familiar and
sure of this number concept that if you have 9 you also have 8, 7,
6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.
Extensions
Materials
Curriculum Extensions
- Have students create their own pens (use four strips of brown
paper glued on the perimeter of a white paper) and color and cut
out their own pigs (use pink circles). Have them repeat this
activity in small groups.
- Have students put different items in their pens and count each
others' items.
- Make an In Our Classroom Booklet. As a class, draw pictures of
items in your classroom for each number. Be explicit that they
are counting the total amount of items. Copy this book for all
students to take home and read.
- Make an In My House Notebook for students to make at home
with their parents.
- After you have made a classroom book and the take-home book,
have students make their own I Would Like Booklet.
- Practice counting items with Self-Correcting Cards. Add objects
to the cards using stickers, stamps, or drawings. Write four
different numbers at the bottom of the card. Punch holes below
each number. Decide if you want your students to count the total
amount of objects or just identify numbers that would be in that
set. Remember, if there are 4 pigs, there are also 3 pigs, 2 pigs,
and 1 pig. On the back of the card, use a magic marker and circle
the hole that matches the total amount or any number that would
apply.
Family Connections
- Send a pig pen home with the students. Have them test their
family. Have them repeat the "Pigs in a Pen" activity at home.
Have them put 5 paper cut-out pigs in their pen. Have them ask
their families, "How many pigs are in my pen?" Then ask if there
is 1 pig in their pen.
- Send home the In Our Classroom Booklet for students to read to
their family.
- Make a family In My House Notebook. Students work with their
families by drawing pictures for, "In my house we have…"
Students work with a family member to complete their book and
return it to school where other students can check it out to take
home and read.
Assessment Plan
- Assessment is an integral part of instruction. Ongoing assessment
is the best foundation for instruction. Teachers must plan ahead
and know what questions they are going to ask.
- As you are doing the activity, keep track of students who respond
incorrectly. Write on a clipboard immediately so you do not
forget which students struggle with the concept.
- After the activity, call on individual students to come and
participate in the activity with just you. Listen to the words they
use. Record and provide feedback if they use the words correctly.
Bibliography
Research Basis
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), Commission on Standards
for School
Mathematics. (1989). Curriculum and evaluation standards for school mathematics,
Reston, VA
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/math/ma0nctmg.htm
The NCTM is finding that students are failing to see the relationship
between mathematics learned in school and real-life situations. They
stress the importance of using realistic contexts and applications, as well
as concrete pictorial models when teaching math concepts.