Extend Learning Beyond the Technology

Transcription

1 Extend Learning Beyond the Technology Toddler Activities: Numeric Operations When it comes to providing toddler-aged children with math activities, choose one or two per day, plan to work with the children in pairs, small groups, or individually, and keep the time appropriate for the age and ability for the children in your class. Each child s ability to focus will lengthen with repeated practice, but as you begin, you may find that 2-4 minutes is enough time (at least until they are more comfortable and confident with various math skills). Counting Foundations Number sense is a core component of early mathematics learning and will form the foundation for children s later math learning. Young children experience the concept of number throughout their everyday experiences and routines, whether they are playing games, passing out materials, setting the table, or finding a place in line. These daily experiences provide opportunities to count and compare numbers in ways that are personally meaningful. Understanding the concept of number is a complex process for young children; toddlers can learn to recite their numbers, one, two, three, four, five, well before they understand that the number 4 represents four different objects. Counting foundations is more than reciting a string of number words and as children practice counting foundations as they play the Shell Squad Adventure games, they are also pairing a number with each object that is counted (which is also known as the beginnings of one-to-one correspondence). Following are activities that support the refinement of counting foundations for your young learners. Activity: Nursery Rhyme Counting No materials needed for this activity Whole group Turning favorite nursery rhymes and finger-plays into counting games is a great way to practice counting and begin understanding one-to-one correspondence. Recite rhymes such as, Five Little Monkeys, Ten in a Bed, Five Little Ducks, One, Two Buckle My Shoe and encourage the children to add movement to the singing and rhyming (i.e. show 1 finger, 2 fingers, 3 fingers, etc.).

2 Activity: Grocery Store Clean Up Emerging and Developing Plastic fruits and vegetables, small dry-goods boxes, and empty drink/food containers, baskets (one basket for each type of food. For example: one basket for fruit, one for vegetables, one for dry goods, etc.) A dramatic play center is the perfect spot for this activity! Place a variety of fruits, vegetables, and other play food items in an easy-to-access manner (i.e. put items on a table that you and the children can work at). Suggest that the children count each kind of food and then put them into separate baskets to help organize the kitchen/ dramatic play area. For example, invite the children to count the fruits and vegetables first and each time they put an item in the basket, they call out the associated number word (one, two, three, and so on). If the children struggle to count, minimize the number of food items they are working with, AND, model counting alongside the children. Activity: Stringing Beads Developing through Completed Large beads, yarn (or strings made specifically for lacing and beading activities) Individuals or small groups Place the large beads and string pieces (pre-cut as needed) in an easy-to-access workspace. Invite the children to use the beads and string to make their very own counting bead necklace! Ask the children to count each bead as they add it to the string, and encourage them to add beads until they run out of count aloud numbers! Activity: Setting the Table Developing through Developed Place settings for two to five (the number of settings varies dependent on the capabilities of each child), table Place the utensils, plates, cups (and any other table-friendly items available) near the table you want the children to set. Since the goal of this activity is to enable children to count as they work, provide more of each item than they will need (i.e. if you ask a child to set a table for two, have at least four of each item). Explain that the table needs to have four (or, as needed, less than four) place settings and then invite the children to set the table; one item at a time (for example, Braden, I need your help setting the table for you and me to eat lunch. Will you put out the plates we need? As Braden puts out the plates, he counts, one, two. This continues with each of the place setting items (i.e. cups, forks, knives, spoons, etc.). Activities such as setting the table and organizing items can turn mundane experiences into math-rich learning opportunities (and can be used for your classroom s real meal times too). Posing questions as children use everyday materials help promote quantification and numeric operation skills. Questions for inquiry and exploration: How many colors are you painting with today? Do you have more or fewer puzzle pieces than I do? How many chicken nuggets do I need to add to the three on your plate so you have five? You are right! Four plus one does equal five. Can you tell me how you figured that out? There are four of you and four tricycles. Do we have enough for everyone? Numeral Recognition Activity: Find & Feel Developing and Developed Bag (or box), magnetic numbers (1-10), number cards (1-10 for extended activity options) Individuals or small groups Place magnetic numbers 1-10 in a feel and find bag (or box) and invite the children to reach in (without peeking!), feel the number shape and guess before they pull the number out to see whether their guess was correct. Assist the children as needed. To extend this activity, add number cards (1-10) to the activity and encourage the children to match the magnetic numbers to the 1-10 number cards.

3 Activity: Cup-O-Numbers Developing and Developed Plastic cups (or reusable bathroom cups), permanent marker, file folder (for extended activity options) Use a permanent marker to write the numbers 1-10 onto plastic cups (one number per cup). Place the cups in an easy-to-access workspace (and/or the building center in your classroom) and invite the children to build, stack, or fill the cups as they identify the numbers. To extend this activity, trace around the bottom of the cups onto a flat file folder (write corresponding numbers into the traced circles) and invite the children to match each cup to its corresponding file folder circle. Activity: Nursery Rhyme Numbers Large number cards (you can make your own with file folders and a permanent marker) Whole group Turning favorite nursery rhymes and finger-plays into counting games is a great way to practice numeral recognition. Recite rhymes such as, Five Little Monkeys, Ten in a Bed, Five Little Ducks, One, Two Buckle My Shoe and as the children join in the rhymes, hold up corresponding number cards (i.e. One, two, buckle my shoe ; hold up the number one, followed by the number two, and so on). To extend this activity, provide the children with number cards and encourage them to display the numbers as they are heard in the rhymes. Activity: Paper Plate Numbers Developing through Developed Paper plates (one for each number, up to 6), markers, clothespins, small round stickers (for extended activity options) Individuals Affix small round stickers to each of the six paper plates (i.e. in quantities from 1 through 6; 1 sticker, 2 stickers, 3 stickers, etc.). Place the paper plates and clothespins in an easy-to-access workspace and invite the children to match the correct number of clothespins to paper plates (i.e. 4 stickers, 4 clothespins). To extend this activity write numbers (1-6) instead of using stickers and ask the children to match the correct number of clothespins to the paper plates (i.e. 3 clothespins for the number 3 paper plate, and so on). Objects in a Set Activity: Cheerio Counting Emerging, Developing and Developed Cheerios (or other similarly shaped cereal), small bowl, measuring cup (½ cup size), file folder, permanent marker, plastic cup Using a plastic cup and marker, trace circles on the file folder. Depending on the level of your young learners, you may want to start with 3-6 circles to create a counting mat (and as the children grow more comfortable with the skill, create counting mats that go up to 10). Add a number to each of the circles you create and write the numbers in numeric order. If possible, laminate or cover the newly created counting mat in clear Contact paper (for durability and cleaning purposes). Place a small bowl of Cheerios, along with the measuring cup, and the counting mat in an easy-to-access workspace. Ask children to count out the Cheerios he/she needs for one circle (he can use the measuring cup to move Cheerios onto the workspace). Encourage the children to line the Cheerios up for easier counting and work with them as they practice adding the correct number of Cheerios to the corresponding number circles. Model this action for your young learners (i.e. I m going to put my Cheerios on the #4; one, two, three, four. Did I count the Cheerios correctly? ). Activity: Muffin Tin Math Developing through Completed Muffin tin, muffin liners, permanent marker, dry pasta (safe for children under the age of 3)

4 Write numbers 1-6 on the bottom of six muffin liners and place the muffin liners into the muffin tin alongside a bowl of dry pasta. Work with the children to count out the pasta pieces he/she needs for each muffin tin liner (i.e. 4 pieces of pasta in the #4 muffin tin liner). Model counting aloud as each piece of pasta is placed into the muffin tin. For example, Here is the #1, so I need one piece of pasta. One. And so on. As children finish filling each muffin tin liner, help them remove one-liner at a time, line up the pasta and count. Assist the children with positive and encouraging suggestions. Addition Activity: Roll, Count and Build! 12 Unifix cubes, 2 dice The following addition and subtraction activities provide your young learners with exposure and supported practice with beginning addition and subtraction skills. Toddler-aged children should not be expected to navigate addition and subtraction practice on their own. Your modeling and guidance is an imperative component to ensure ongoing success. Place the Unifix cubes and the dice in an easy-to-access workspace. Invite one child at a time to roll a dice. Ask the child what number they see upon rolling the die. Next, ask the child to find the same number of Unifix cubes they need to match the number on the die. Encourage the child to use the cubes to build a small tower and to count aloud as they build. Next, using the other die, ask the child to repeat the above process. Last, help the child connect the two separate towers into one. Ask the child to count aloud as he touches each of the cubes in the newly connected tower. Model the process by saying something such as, The first tower has one cube. The second tower has three cubes. Let s put the two towers together. How many are in our new tower? One, two, three, four. That s right! Activity: Planting Flowers Flowerpot, piece of clay (or Styrofoam that will fit into the pot), 12 artificial flowers (if the flowers are in a bunch, separate them so there are 12 separate flowers), two dice Mold the clay into the flowerpot and place the pot, the flowers, and a pair of dice in an easy-to-access workspace. The clay (or Styrofoam) will hold the artificial flowers in place. Invite the child to roll one dice, to say the number aloud, and to then count aloud as they add the matching number of flowers to the pot. Ask the child to repeat the process with the second dice. Next, ask the child to count how many flowers there are in all. Model these steps as needed. Activity: Math-Chute (Addition) Paper towel tube (or wrapping paper tube), dice, counters (classroom counters such as bears, dinosaurs, etc., the counters need to be small enough to fit into and through the tube), bin or basket (children will drop the counters through the tube and a shallow bin or basket make for a great counter catcher ) Invite children to roll one die, say the number aloud, and count the number of counters that match the number on the rolled dice. Next, invite the child to drop the counters through the tube, counting each one aloud as they fall through the tube and into the bin. Ask the child to follow the above actions with the second die. Next, ask the child to see how many counters there are in all (i.e. point to and count aloud each of the counters that landed in the bin). Subtraction Activity: Roll, Count and Deconstruct! Six Unifix cubes, dice

5 Your guidance, modeling and facilitation is a necessity as your young learners practice these important beginning subtraction skills. Use all six Unifix cubes to build a short tower, and place them, as well as the dice, in an easy-to-access workspace. Show the child the tower and ask her to count each of the six cubes aloud (or, model this process for the child; pointing to each cube as you count). Invite the child to roll the die and to name the number that appears. Next, ask the child to recall the number of cubes in the tower (6) and then ask the child to remove the number of cubes shown on the die. For example, Two. I rolled a two, so I am going to remove two cubes from the tower. One, two. How many of the six cubes remain? One, two, three, four. Activity: Picking Flowers Flowerpot, piece of clay (or Styrofoam that will fit into the pot), 6 artificial flowers (if the flowers are in a bunch, separate them so you have 6 separate flowers), dice Mold the clay into the flowerpot and plant the flowers in the flowerpot. Place the flowerpot and the dice in an easy-toaccess workspace. Invite a child to count the number of flowers in the flowerpot; reminding her to point to each flower as she counts aloud. Next, ask the child to roll the die, to say the number that appears aloud, and to remove the matching number of flowers from the flowerpot. After the flowers are removed, ask the child to point to and count the remaining flowers in the pot. For example, You took away three flowers from the six in the flowerpot. Count and see how many flowers remain. One, two, three. That is right! Model each step as needed. Activity: Math-Chute (Subtraction) Paper towel tube (or wrapping paper tube), dice, counters (classroom counters such as bears, dinosaurs, etc., the counters need to be small enough to fit into and through the tube), bin or basket (children will drop the counters through the tube and a shallow bin or basket make for a great counter catcher ) Invite children to roll one die, say the number aloud, and count the number of counters that match the number on the rolled dice. Next, invite the child to drop the counters through the tube, counting each one aloud as they fall through the tube and into the bin. Ask the child to follow the above actions with the second die. Next, ask the child to see how many counters there are in all (i.e. point to and count aloud each of the counters that landed in the bin). To extend this activity to include practice with subtraction, ask the child to roll one die; saying the number aloud when it appears. Next, ask the child to remove the rolled number of counters from the bin. Work with the child to find out how many counters remain in the bin. For example, Five counters went through our math chute. Let s take away the three your dice shows and see how many remain. Count each bear [counter] as you remove it. Good! Now, count aloud to see how many are still there. One, two. That is right! You are a good mathematician! Challenge the child to reverse the math chute as they remove the counters. The children may try a number of possibilities, including tipping the tube the opposite direction, but no matter the result, the invitation to try provides children great opportunities to problem-solve and develop critical thinking skills. Copyright 2017 Hatch, Inc. All rights reserved. Exclusively by HatchEarlyLearning.com