Week 3, Chapter 2

Some of these concepts could easily be practiced with the Quick Image activity using ten frames. Quick Images are a great way for students to learn the concept of a number, and, therefore, also a great way to learn the concept of "more than" or "less than." In fact, ten frames in general would be a great way to study more than versus less than, because if more boxes are filled in on one ten frame, the visual image helps students understand.

Early counting is made easier with activities such as the Double Decker Bus video. Starting with small amounts of something that is tangible is a great idea. As in the video, the teacher started with 3 students. When all 3 students were sitting on the "bus" she asked how many were on the second level, how many were on the first, and how many there were total.

Relationships among numbers relates to the video about finger patterns. Children can easily learn their doubles and the significance of five and ten with their hands, as well as concepts such as "two more than", etc.

Activity 2.9 really is my favorite activity. It is similar to Quick Images, but uses paper plates instead of ten frames. I like this version better because it is easier to show that five dots in a row is five, but so is five dots configured like the dots on a die. Before doing the Quick Images activity, students could even be responsible for making the plates. The teacher could put the students in 10 groups and assign each group a number; then each group has to think of all the possible ways/patterns to draw their number on the plates. After that, the teacher could flash the plates to the whole class or students can flash the plates to each other during center time or in small groups. I think it is a very versatile and efficient activity.