Series: Ideas at Work
Ideas for Counting During Primary Math Activities
Counting Activities to Try with Primary Students
NCTM.org
"Counting Collections is a structured counting activity in which children work with a partner to count how many items are in a collection and then record their count on paper. By working together, students develop social skills—like sharing decisions about how to count and what to do if you disagree—as well as mathematical skills—like strategies for keeping track, learning the counting sequence, and ideas about place value."
Go to linkLearning to count is more complex that you might expect. As described in the Collaborative’s book Big Ideas of Early Mathematics, there are two different types: rote counting and rational counting. While both are useful, “when young children develop rational counting skills they are armed with a tool that enables them to understand the concept of numerosity, to compare quantities of different sets, and eventually to engage in operations. Rational counting is a foundation for children’s early work with numbers.”
This link delves into some ideas for exploring counting as well as building those primary math activities into opportunities to investigate numerosity and patterns. While it is always a good idea to encourage all kinds of counting throughout the day, there can be times teachers and parents are able to use those moments to build deeper foundations.
