MATH

TEACHING MATH TO YOUNG CHILDREN

Complete Bell Quiz #2 on Play

Turn in your quarter vouchers

Take:

1 napkin

1 straw

2 spaghetti noodles

10 fruit loops

1 licorice string

(it is okay if it breaks)

14 marshmallows

MATH IN STORIES, SONGS, AND

FINGERPLAYS

1,2,3,4,5 once I Caught a Fish Alive 6,7,8,9,10 Then I let him go again.

Why’d-ya let him go again? ‘cause he bit my finger so! Which finger did he bite?

This little finger on the right.

Other stories and songs that deal with MATH concepts? • 5 Little Monkeys in a tree or on the Bed • 5 Little Speckled Frogs or Little Ducks • How much is a million? • Silly Sally • The old Woman Who Swallowed a fly

MATH IS IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Where do we see math? Recipes, cleaning up, getting dressed, laundry,

dishes, the sandbox, toys, songs, stories …

More than just

1 - 2 - 3

The better children were at reading as preschoolers, the better they were at reading in elementary school. And the better preschoolers

were at mathematics, the better they were at mathematics in later grades. This is important,

but not surprising.

However, this is only half of the story.

Early reading predicts only later reading ability. Mathematics in preschool predicts not only

mathematics, but also later literacy and reading skills. Mathematics is a general cognitive skill

stepping stone for many areas.

Teaching children math / February 2008 Clements and Sarama

TRY TO

MEMORIZE

THESE

SYMBOLS

Top to bottom,

left to right:

1, 7, 12, 3, 6, 4, 5,

10, 8, 9, 11, 2

NOW TEST

YOURSELF:

A taste of what a

child has to

accomplish

when learning

numbers.

TEACHING MATH

1. Social interaction is a central part of learning.

Oral language is important in development of math skills and all other skills.

Provides opportunities for discussing, questioning, and higher levels of learning.

2. Math concepts should be concrete, filled with play, exploration through the use of manipulative.

Objects that provide tactile, hands on learning experiences, and practices fine motor skills.

Blocks help children learn math concepts like shape, sizes, color and space.

MATHEMATICAL MANIPULATIVES

MANIPULATIVES

Felt & magnetic numbers & shapes

Peg boards / Geo Boards

Ruler, measuring tapes, measuring cups, scales

Play money & cash registers

Calendars

Timers, clocks, Thermometers

Counting rods

Light & heavy objects

Buttons, keys, spools

Puzzles

TEACHING MATH

3. Repetition of exposure and training is an

important part of all learning experiences.

- Reteach the concept in a different way and continue

practicing the skill.

- Break it down into small and simple steps and go slow.

And #4…

4. INTRODUCE AND USE NEW

VOCABULARY WORDS

Highest & Lowest

Once - Twice Pair

Same and different

More and less

group

Use methods that make math engaging

TEACHING MATH:

THE MATH SONG

MATH CONCEPTS

CONCEPT #1: COUNTING

Rote Counting

Learned by memorization

Tell how many

Touch objects

One to one correspondence

Count as we clap, climb stairs, eat,

sidewalk squares, jump up and down

Touch points

Number link

TOUCH POINTS (DOT) NUMBERS

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9

COUNTING

IDEAS AND

CENTERS

• Playing board games • Chutes and Ladders, Hi-Ho Cherry-O

• Counting stairs as you climb

•*Touch each object as you count it

so it is only counted once.

•*Hold up a number for them to

recognize and count out that many.

•*Eat only 1 - now how many?

TRY THIS ACTIVITY

CONCEPT #2: MEASURE UP

Figuring the measurement of objects

Length, height, weight, size

Measuring units: inch, pound, quart,

Use their hand, their pencil, candy… to measure

Measurement comparisons

Bigger, lighter, more than, …

MEASURING IDEAS

It was this big!

Cut out several different sizes

of fish. Have rulers for the

children to compare the

different lengths of fish. Use

the fish to measure items.

*How long is your pencil?

TRY THIS ACTIVITY

CONCEPT #3: CLASSIFICATION

AND SORTING

Classification is grouping by nature / group name or categorizing or putting items together that are alike in some way or that belong together .

Dogs vs. cats Apples vs. Oranges

Sorting is breaking down the groups into more specific characteristics.

Colors of dogs, size of the dogs ears, size of the dogs, size of the dogs tail, etc.

Ask: Does this belong?

Sort boys/girls

Sort children by hair or eye color

Sort different types of animals

Sort buttons, laundry, dishes

Sorting trays help organize.

clear cup, egg carton, muffin tin, ice cube tray

CLASSIFYING

IDEAS

Glue buttons to a sturdy board.

Give the children a piece of yarn

and show them how to wrap it

around the buttons to make

designs.

Have children wrap the yarn

around the same color of buttons,

or a certain number of buttons,

etc.

TEACH SHAPES:

Ask the children to create a

rectangle, square or triangle.

Ask them to put / glue the

appropriate color into the box

labeled with the colors or other

characteristic.

TRY THIS ACTIVITY

CONCEPT #4: Statistics &

Probability

Creating a visual representation of your

discovery

Graph types of bugs found, growth of plants,

hair or eye colors in class, etc.

Making a prediction

Predict how many flowers will bloom from

seeds planted.

Statistics IDEAS and Centers • Graph

- Have children pick out their 5 favorite foods and place their pictures on the graph. Count each of the items with the students and discuss which has more and less.

- Types of shoes (tie, slip on, sandals/flip flops, sneakers) that students are wearing.

- Chips are Down Game Drop math chips or other items into a jar. Have children lay the items that made it into the jar out in a line. Look at all of the children’s lines to see who made the most drop baskets.

TRY THIS ACTIVITY

CONCEPT #5: Sequencing

The order of how to accomplish

a task or how things happened.

Beginning, middle, last

Beginning and end

1st, 2nd, 3rd then have them

reverse it.

Sequence the order of

pictures in a story

SEQUENCING ACTIVITY

1 = Touch your knees

2 = Arms straight out to side

3 = Clap hands above head

4 = Hands on waist

– Now Divide into 4 groups.

• Assign each action to a group

• Count and have every group do their movement

• Do it faster.

• What else can you put in a SEQUENCE?

Recipes are Sequencing

• Cat Eye

• Have children create

the snack from the

sequence on a poster.

TRY THIS ACTIVITY

Concept #6 = Time

Time concepts must relate to their world The length of their favorite TV show, “sleeps”

Chain links for Christmas

Before and after, sequence, timers Salt / Water Timer in a cup.

Can begin to recognize numbers on a clock but the time concept is abstract.

How much time will it take

you to eat your candy?

CONCEPT #7: SPATIAL RELATIONS 1. Maps

- Map of the classroom

- Map the house

- Map of neighborhood

2. Space / matter

- On, in, under, next to

- Dog in a dog house.

3. Follow directions

- Draw or place the red flower next to the orange one.

- Place the red flower in the corner of the sand bucket.

SPATIAL

RELATIONSHIPS

IDEAS

Have 12 marshmallows and spaghetti noodles available for children to create a marshmallow sculpture.

Tangram shapes

Tinker toys, legos, lincoln logs,…

TRY THIS ACTIVITY

Going on a Bear Hunt

CONCEPT #8

TEMPERATURE

Cooking

Thermometer

Outside:

Temperature in the

shade, sun, car, …

CONCEPT #9: SHAPES Shape identification

Pictures of shapes need

name written on it (language

development)

The shape of objects in a room

2 & 3 dimension

Spheres, cubes, rectangular,

prisms, cylinder (use correct

names)

Tommy Triangle is the name for me.

Tap my sides one, two, three.

Ricky Rectangle is my name.

My four sides are not the same.

Two are short and two are long.

One, two, three, four

Sandy Square is my name.

My four sides are just the same.

Count one side and then count more.

Count to two, then three, then four.

Turn me around, I don’t care!

I’m always the same, I’m sandy square.

I’m Suzy Circle watch me bend,

Round and round, from end to end.

Ollie Oval that is me!

I am not round as you can see.

Like an egg that a hen has laid, That is the way I am made.

Danny Diamond says, “The thing I am like is a colorful,

Big, high-flying kite.

triangle

rectangle

circle oval

square

diamond

SHAPES

IDEAS AND

CENTERS

Shape Hunt

Cut out a large circle,

square, triangle and

rectangle, and star. Place

the objects around the

room and have the

children hunt for the

different shapes.

Shape Move

Play a game where you

move # of spaces of the #

of shape sides (circle=0)

CONCEPT #10: PATTERNING

Repeat & growing patterns

Logical reasoning

Eliminate ones that are different

PATTERNING

IDEAS

Cut construction paper into

1” strips.

Have children pick two

different colors of

construction paper.

Alternate the strips and

staple closed.

TRY THIS ACTIVITY

CONCEPT #11 = COLOR

Using crayons or markers, trace the

number and do the following:

1 = Red

2 = Blue

3 = Green

4 = Orange

5 = Yellow

6 = Purple

7 = Pink

8 = Brown

9 = Black

10 = Your Favorite Color

1 2

3

4

6

7

9

8

10 5

6

COLOR IDEAS

Transition times

Sorting by color

Play “I spy”

Color charts and

graphs

Color

associations

“Bring me the red block vs. what color is this”

CONCEPT #12: SERIATING

Size relationships

Putting things in order based on Size, weight, and volume

Big, bigger, biggest

Tallest to shortest

Lightest to heaviest

SERIATION IDEAS

Trace and cut out each of the children’s feet onto a sheet of paper.

Have the children put the feet in order of largest to smallest and vice versa.

Go Fishing: attach a paper clip to fish of different sizes. Attach a magnet to a rope and fish. Put the fish in order by size.

Have 4 students come to the front of the room. Group them according to body height and then hair length.

TRY THIS ACTIVITY

My dad gave me one dollar bill

Cause I’m his smartest son,

And I swapped it for two shiny quarters

Cause two is more than one.

And then I took the quarters

And traded them to Lou

For three dimes-I guess he don’t know

That three is more than two.

Just then, along came old blind Bates

And just cause he can’t see

He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,

And four is more than three.

And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs

Down at the seed-feed store,

And the fool gave me five pennies for them,

And five is more than four.

And then I went and showed my dad,

And he got red in the cheeks

And closed his eyes and shook his head-

Too proud of me to speak!

S

M

A

R

T

By

Shel

S

I

L

V

E

R

S

T

E

I

n

CONCEPT # 13: MONEY

Children can start to identify

coins

Playing store helps children gain

a sense of the cost of things

Label the food in the child care

lab with prices, and allow the

children to buy the food.