10 Little Ducks Went Out To Play......

Sooooo, a Common Core math standard says that students should be able to count to 120 from any number. How am I supposed to do this? Well, today I felt as though my math lesson tied one aspect of this together. It is only our first week of school...actually day 5! So I don't want to overwhelm some students and underwhelm others. I always try to think of how to integrate as many aspects to a lesson as possible. I also know that it is early in the year and I can't assume that all students can even count to 100, much less 120.

I believe that it is best to work with something students may already know, then expand on that. Most students can at least "sing" to 100, so I wanted to start with the basic counting by 10s.

I began the lesson with a spotlight on what standard we were working on. Then we stood up for a little music and movement courtesy of Have Fun Teaching. The Youtube videos on counting are GREAT! We did the Skip Counting By 10 Song - Beginner. Between the chorus of the song, we added in 110, 120 to the beat of the music.

Then we used dry erase markers, wipes, and 0-120 number charts in sleeve protectors to count and circle the numbers from 0-120 together.

Next, students heard the story 10 Little Rubber Ducks. After the story, students were give a page of blank little rubber ducks. I used the one below, but added more ducks to each sheet.



Students had to write the number 0-120 counting by 10s on the ducks. Here is how I differentiated the lesson. For students who needed help, they were allowed to use a 0-120 counting strip to help them fill in the numbers they needed help with. On level students were able to count from 0-120 independently. My more advanced students were able to extend their counting sequence with extra blank ducks. Students could then color the ducks yellow, cut the ducks out, and then glue them to a sheet of paper that they colored blue to mimic the ocean that the ducks from the story were floating in.

 

This lesson, was a little longer than one of my regular math lessons, and this is the type of lesson during the year, that I would usually reserve for a Friday, however I will probably be doing more of these lessons during the week because it really gave students many components. I also thought that next year to really tie it all together I would add a journal writing piece to the lesson to integrate writing in with the literacy piece. Below you can find samples of students' finished work. 

 

Before the work is displayed outside I will include teacher commentary and post the sign explaining the lesson and learning outcome.

This student completed the assignment 0-120 without assistance

This student extended the counting sequence to 140

 

This student required the use of the counting strip and extra guidance from the teacher