Lesson 15

The purpose of this warm-up is for students to experience part of the Questions About Us routine. Students continue to engage in this routine throughout the section, focused on answering, “How many of us are here today?” In this activity, students develop ideas for how to represent how many students are here today. Student ideas should drive which representation is created. Save the poster from this warm-up for comparison in the next lesson. As students observe that counting their classmates and counting a representation of their classmates give the same result, they are building an understanding of how numbers represent how many there are in a collection (MP2).

• Display a blank poster.
• “How can we show how many of us are here today?”
• 30 seconds: quiet think time
• 30 seconds: partner discussion
• Share responses.
• Monitor for students who suggest drawing a stick figure of each student or writing each student’s name. 
• Choose one student suggestion and demonstrate representing each student. Represent each student in a way that is different than yesterday.

• “How can we figure out how many of us are here?” (We can count each person. We can count each stick figure or name.)
• Count each student. 
• “How many of us are here today?”
• Count each name or stick figure. 
• “How many of us are here today?”

• “What did we do to show each student in our class?”

The purpose of this activity is for students to count their collection in a way that makes sense to them and share how they counted with a partner. Sharing how many objects are in the collection and how they counted will be useful when students represent their count in the next lesson. Most students should be given collections with 6–10 objects. Based on formative assessment data collected in previous sections, adjust the number of objects in collections for individual students. Students are provided with counting mats and 5-frames to help them accurately count or organize their collections. Students use appropriate tools strategically as they choose which tools help them count their collections (MP5).

Additional collections can be provided to allow students to choose a new collection to count.

• Groups of 2
• “Today you’re going to count another collection of objects.”

• Give each student a bag of objects. Give students access to 5-frames and a counting mat. 
• “Figure out how many objects are in your collection."
• 2 minutes: independent work time
• “Switch collections with a partner. Figure out how many objects are in your new collection.”
• 2 minutes: independent work time
• “Tell your partner how many objects are in your collection. Show them how you counted the objects.”
• 30 seconds: quiet think time
• 2 minutes: partner discussion
• Monitor for students who demonstrate how they used a counting mat or 5-frame to count their objects.

• Invite previously identified students to share how they counted their collections. 
• “How did the 5-frame (or counting mat) help you count your collection of objects?”
• After each student shares, write or display the number and say, “There are _____ objects in their collection.”

The purpose of this optional activity is for students to use a counting mat as a tool to help them keep track of which objects have been counted. Based on formative assessment data from previous sections and observation during the first activity, this activity will be helpful for students who are not counting all objects or counting some objects more than one time.

This activity also serves as further formative assessment on students’ counting concepts, including one-to-one matching and understanding that the last number tells us “how many.”

This activity can be used with a small group or the whole class. Students who do not need this optional activity may benefit from additional time working in centers.

• Display a counting mat and a collection of 6–10 objects.
• “How can the counting mat help us make sure that we count each object 1 time?”
• 30 seconds: quiet think time
• Share responses.

• Give each student a collection of 6–10 objects and a counting mat.
• “Use the counting mat to figure out how many objects are in your collection.”
• 2 minutes: independent work time
• As students count, monitor for students who move each object from one side of the counting mat as they say one number.

• Invite previously identified students to share how they counted.
• Display a collection of 6 objects on one side of a counting mat. Demonstrate counting and moving 4 of the objects to the other side of the counting mat.
• “Which objects do I still need to count? Which objects did I already count? How do you know?” 

The purpose of this activity is for students to choose from activities that focus on using math tools. Students choose from any stage of previously introduced centers.

• Connecting Cubes
• Pattern Blocks
• Geoblocks
• Picture Books

• Gather materials from:
  • Connecting Cubes, Stages 1, 2, and 3
  • Pattern Blocks, Stages 1, 2, and 3
  • Geoblocks, Stages 1 and 2
  • Picture Books, Stages 1 and 2

• “Today we are going to choose from centers we have already learned.”
• Display the center choices in the student book.
• “Think about what you would like to do first.”
• 30 seconds: quiet think time

• Invite students to work at the center of their choice. 
• 8 minutes: center work time
• “Choose what you would like to do next.”
• 8 minutes: center work time

• “Tell us about a time when something was challenging for you during centers. What did you do?”