Counting Collections

Seems simple right?  Count a collection?  I attended a conference over the weekend that showcased the value and importance of this foundational skill.  

Counting is more than repeating a rote sequence and

recognizing the numerals. Learning to count while

simultaneously developing a sense of quantities and

number relationships is an important foundation for students. It is essential that the student understands a quantity represents the number and how numbers are related. Counting is finding out how many. 

I took this right from the resource we obtained at our conference.  Click here for the full PDF information.  We set off with today's intention being very simple, count the collections.  However, after sitting in on their counting and nudging them into different directions in counting we will be changing some things up next week.

We documented the numbers on the board.

These partners decided to record their counting on a piece of paper and then putting them up on the whiteboard later.

Some students were starting to group the dots into 2s, 5s, and 10s.  

We reflected on some different ways we counted.  Some of the collections were too large and were too difficult to count so we will be making smaller collections for next Monday.  It was great to see all the different counting strategies: lining them up and touch counting, moving the object from space to another and counting, and grouping the objects.  I look forward to this counting exploration and where it will lead us.