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Math Strands

Types

for

Audience

Special Topics

Number Sense

Number sense is the ability to understand the quantity of a set and the name associated with that quantity. Strong number sense developed in the early years is a key building block of learning arithmetic in the primary grades, as it connects counting to quantities, solidifies and refines the understanding of more and less, and helps children estimate quantities and measurements.

Copyright: Erikson Institute’s Early Math Collaborative. Reprinted from Big Ideas of Early Mathematics: What Teachers of Young Children Need to Know (2014), Pearson Education.

Number sense involves some Big Ideas that can be explored with children, such as:

  • The quantity of a small collection can be intuitively perceived without counting.
  • Quantity is an attribute of a set of objects and we use numbers to name specific quantities.
  • Numbers are used in many ways, some more mathematical than others.
Series: Focus on the Lesson

Photo Chat about Quantities Puts the Focus on Units

May 10, 2023

In this video, preschoolers share the quantities they see when looking at a photo of a box of doughnuts. There are many ways to answer the question, how many of what?, depending on the unit. 

  • Topic: Number Sense, Data Analysis
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade
what is a number path
Series: Ideas at Work February 22, 2023

What is a Number Path and How Does It Build Number Relationships?

Many of children’s favorite board games follow a path to a goal. Exploring a number path with young children also leads to a goal that is critical for early mathematics: understanding number relationships. What is…

  • Topic: Number Sense, Counting
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade
  • Tags Games
reading books about numbers with 1 Smile 10 Toes
Series: Book Ideas September 28, 2022

4 Playful Counting Books That Bring Numbers to Life

Counting books that offer children opportunities to participate bring play into math learning. These books engage children physically, cognitively, and emotionally—making them favorites that children will ask to read again and again.

  • Topic: Number Sense
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade
  • Tags Family Math
same and different math babies and toddlers
Series: Focus on the Child July 19, 2022

Noticing Same and Different: The Concept of Comparison with Infants and Toddlers

“More” is often one of children’s first words. Infants attend to differences, though they don’t yet discriminate between "more" as quantity or magnitude/size or intensity of sensation. Toddlers are beginning to differentiate between attributes and…

  • Topic: Number Sense
  • Age/Grade Level: Infants, Toddlers
  • Tags Comparing
mathematical language routine
Series: Ideas at Work June 6, 2022

How to Use Digital Photos to Build a Mathematical Language Routine for Kids

It turns out that mathematical thinking is developed in conversation with others; asking students “how do you know that?” will reveal a child’s mathematical reasoning skills. The ability to explain one’s thinking is a cognitive…

  • Topic: Sets, Number Sense
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade
  • Tags English Language Learner, Number Talks
Series: Focus on the Lesson November 27, 2021

Counting a Collection of 101 – How Did You Count Them?

Counting Collections is an activity rooted in sense-making and joy. It invites students to count a collection of objects, talk to a partner about how they counted and then draw/represent their collection on paper. In…

  • Topic: Number Sense, Counting
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade
Series: Focus on Play November 17, 2021

Quantity Cards for Subitizing

Quantity is a particular amount of something, expressed as a number. Quantity cards for young children can have pictures of small sets such as dots, finger patterns, or 5- or 10- frames. The ones we…

  • Topic: Number Sense
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten
  • Tags Subitizing, Play, Games, Family Math, En Español
eric carle books
Series: Book Ideas August 18, 2021

Beloved Eric Carle Books Illustrate the Math in Story Time

For over 50 years, millions of children have returned again and again to the books illustrated and written by Eric Carle. Kids can’t get enough of his colorful collages, animal characters, and rhythmic texts.

  • Topic: Pattern, Number Sense, Counting
  • Tags Eric Carle, Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?, 1-2-3 to the Zoo: A Counting Book, Rooster's Off to See the World
cardinality of a set
Series: Focus on the Child May 19, 2021

Why Cardinality is the Goal of Counting

What is cardinality? And how is it related to counting? The common definition of cardinality states that it’s the understanding that the last number word said when counting tells how many in all.

  • Topic: Sets, Number Sense, Counting
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten
  • Tags Cardinality
diy rekenrek
Series: Ideas at Work April 14, 2021

DIY Rekenrek Ideas for Home and School

To encourage teachers and other adults to use rekenreks, it's important to not only go over ways to use a rekenrek, but also we thought we would make sure everyone has opportunities to have them,…

  • Topic: Number Sense, Counting
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten
  • Tags Subitizing, Rekenrek
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