Lesson 6

The purpose of this activity is for students to experience part of the Act It Out routine. This routine allows students to participate by listening to language and repeating a simple poem related to number. Students share initial thoughts about what the story is about. Students revisit this story in the next lesson and represent it. Students continue to engage in this routine throughout the section and participate in the full routine by the end of the section.

• Groups of 2
• Display and read the story.

• “What is the story about?”
• 30 seconds: quiet think time
• Share responses.
• Read the story again. 
• Read the story together.

• “We will come back to this story tomorrow and think about what happens in the story.”

The purpose of this activity is for students to experience the first part of the How Many Do You See routine. Students continue to engage in this routine throughout the section and participate in the full routine by the end of the section. In the synthesis, students explain how they saw the dots. This is an opportunity to hear the language students use to explain their thinking. The number “3” is displayed during the activity synthesis to give students opportunities to recognize numbers and connect numbers and quantities.

• Groups of 2
• Display the image.
• “How many do you see? How do you see them?” 
• 30 seconds: quiet think time 

• “Use your fingers to show your partner how many dots you see.”
• 30 seconds: partner work time
• “Tell your partner how many dots you see and how you see them.”
• 1 minute: partner discussion
• Share and record responses.

• Display or write “3”. 
• “There are 3 dots.”

The purpose of this activity is for students to recognize and name quantities in picture books. If students have not heard the story this year, read the book aloud to students as a part of the launch. Students may notice and wonder many things about the page in the book, especially after hearing the story. This should be encouraged and recorded as students are making sense of the context. If students do not mention the groups of objects displayed on the page, ask them “What things on the page remind you of things we have been doing in math class?” to encourage them to mathematize the situation (MP4). This prepares students to see and analyze quantities so that they can use mathematics to describe their world. This is stage 1 of the Picture Books center. Students continue working with picture books throughout this unit in centers.

Some examples of picture books include: 

• Grandma’s Purse by Vanessa Brantlet-Newton
• My Heart Fills with Happiness by Monique Gray Smith
• Pablo’s Tree by Pat Mora
• Saturday by Oge Mora
• There is a Bird on Your Head by Mo Willems
• Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña
• Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate
• Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan
• Count on Me by Miguel Tanco
• The Girl with the Parrot on Her Head by Daisy Hirst 

Throughout the year, books that are read to students or used by students in centers are referred to as picture books in these materials. The term picture book refers to books with only pictures or books with both pictures and words.

• Groups of 2
• Display a page from a picture book that has multiple groups with up to 4 things.
• “What do you notice? What do you wonder?”
• 1 minute: quiet think time
• “Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
• 1 minute: partner discussion
• Share and record responses.
• “How many ____ are there? Show your partner on your fingers or tell them how many ____ there are.”
• 30 seconds: quiet think time
• 1 minute: partner discussion
• “We can use our fingers or say numbers to show how many things there are.”

• Give each group of students access to at least one picture book. 
• “Look for groups of things in your book. Use your fingers to show your partner and tell your partner how many things there are in the groups you find.”
• 5 minutes: partner work time
• Monitor for students who recognize groups of 1–4 objects without counting. 

• “What groups of things did you find in your book? How many things are in the group?”
• Invite previously identified students to share.
• As students share, display or write the number and say “There are _____ in the group.”

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

Students will choose from these centers throughout the section. Keep materials from these centers organized to use each day.

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

• “Today you will work in centers with our math tools and picture books. During center time today one of the choices is to continue exploring picture books.”
• Display the center choices in the student book.
• “Think about what you would like to work with first.”
• 30 seconds: quiet think time

• Invite students to work at the center of their choice. 
• 10 minutes: center work time
• “Choose what you would like to work with next.”
• 10 minutes: center work time
• While students work in centers, consider asking:
  • “What did you do with the connecting cubes, pattern blocks, or geoblocks?”
  • “What groups of things did you see in your book? How many things are there?”
• Monitor for students who create objects, patterns, or buildings the class can describe during the synthesis.

• Invite previously selected students to share their work.
• “How can we describe what _____ made?”