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Math Strands

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Audience

Special Topics

Sets

Sets are basic to children’s thinking and learning. They are also basic to our number system. One of the most important jobs of each number is to describe “how many” there are in a set of things — be it one, seven, or three hundred and nineteen. Before we can figure out how many apples there are, we have to decide which things are apples, and which are not. Once we’ve created the set of things that are apples, perhaps by separating them from the oranges, then we can count them. Counting requires a set, and as a result, the properties of sets have a large influence on the base 10 number system, and on mathematics.

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.

cardinality of a set
Series: Focus on the Child

Why Cardinality is the Goal of Counting

May 19, 2021

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
Crazy Train Games to Play at Home
Series: Ideas at Work May 25, 2020

Games to Play at Home Using Attributes for Math Thinking

En Español También. Language and math have a lot in common! For example, every time you describe something—as red, tall, sticky, or loud, for example—you are helping to define and categorize things. And defining and…

  • Topic: Sets
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade
  • Tags Games, Sorting, Attribute, Family Math, En Español
Series: Ideas at Work April 25, 2020

Let’s Wash that Math Right Into Laundry Day

En Español También. Whether you have a machine at home or visit a laundromat, there is all kinds of math involved in doing laundry. And there are all kinds of ways that children of all…

  • Topic: Sets
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade
  • Tags Estimation, Comparing, Attribute, Family Math, En Español
sets and sorting books
Series: Book Ideas March 22, 2020

At-Home Activity Cards: Sets and Sorting

These printable activity cards in both English and Spanish invite home explorations with sets and sorting using the books and activities related to them. The books can encourage conversations about attributes while also inspiring questions…

  • Topic: Sets
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten
  • Tags Tana Hoban, Cynthia Weill, Stuart J Murphy, Emily Jenkins, A Pair of Socks, Exactly the Opposite, Opuestos/Opposites, Five Creatures, Is it Red? Is it Yellow? Is it Blue?, download
activity children's books in spanish and english
Series: Focus on Play March 17, 2020

Creatures at Home Activity

In both English and Spanish, the directions here outline how to do an activity at home that can allow parents to involve themselves with the learning taking place in classrooms, all tied to the book…

  • Topic: Sets
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten
  • Tags download
Series: Book Ideas December 11, 2019

5 Kids’ Books that Involve Sets and Sorting

Children look for ways to organize and make sense of their world through play at school and home, as well as at clean-up time. Sorting items into groups by specific attributes gives children the opportunity…

  • Topic: Sets
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten
  • Tags Lois Ehlert, Tana Hoban, Family Math, Cynthia Weill, Stuart J Murphy, Emily Jenkins, A Pair of Socks, Exactly the Opposite, Opuestos/Opposites, Five Creatures, Is it Red? Is it Yellow? Is it Blue?
Series: Ideas at Work October 30, 2019

All Sorts of Families: Connecting School and Home with Math

All members of a household have things in common and things that set them apart. Exploring the important ways that loved ones go together and what makes them unique involves both mathematical thinking and a…

  • Topic: Sets
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten
  • Tags Family Math, Emily Jenkins, Five Creatures
July 15, 2018

Professional Development Module: Sets

Sets are basic to children’s thinking and learning. They are also basic to our number system. One of the most important jobs of each number is to describe “how many” there are in a set…

  • Topic: Sets
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten
Series: Book Ideas June 13, 2017

Matching and Concepts of Same and Different… with Socks!

Does a polka-dotted sock match a striped sock? In the book A Pair of Socks young children will learn about an important early skill: matching.

  • Topic: Sets
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten
  • Tags Animals, Lois Ehlert, Stuart J Murphy, A Pair of Socks
algebraic thinking algebraic sentence in young children 636x363
Series: Book Ideas January 3, 2017

4 Books That Inspire Algebraic Thinking in Young Children

One of the best ways to delve into the rules and patterns that govern algebra is through the books that are read to children each and every day.

  • Topic: Precursor Concepts, Sets, Number Operations
  • Age/Grade Level: Infants, Toddlers, Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade
  • Tags Books, Eric Carle, Audrey Wood, Tana Hoban, Is it Red? Is it Yellow? Is it Blue?, The Napping House, Mary Ann Hoberman, Rooster's Off to See the World, I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
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