How does Ms. Gaxiola use counting collections to help
students build an understanding of addition and subtraction?
What differentiation strategies does Ms. Gaxiola use?
How could you make counting collections a part of your
classroom routine?

This task aims to give students practice counting and recording the given number on quantities up to 20.

This marbel counting iteration of greater than, less than, and equal to with a specific "target number" help strengthen the concept for students.

In this investigation, students visualize and compare volumes in solids composed of unit cubes and look for patterns in the measurements. They work systematically to organize and analyze the results. Ideas for implementation, extension and support are included.

In this set of addition and subtraction word problems students are encouraged to find their own way to solve the problems. This enables students to discover the strengths and weaknesses of different solution methods and to see how multiple methods all arrive at the same answer. Included with the problem set are tips for getting started, the solutions, a teacher resource page, and a printable student page.

This activity provides an opportunity for students to work on spatial visualization and number sense together. Learners are presented with a hundred grid and told there is another printed on the reverse side. They must work out the unseen numbers for several positions on the grid. Ideas for implementation, extension and support are included along with a printable sheet of grids.

In this lesson activity students create visual representations for the data presented in the book, "If the World Were a Village" by David J Smith and Shelagh Armstrong. Students are challenged to create different representations and reason why one representation may be better than another. Suggested representations are pictographs, bar graphs, and tables. The activity includes the problem, teacher notes, hints, and solution suggestions.

This Flash-based game of chance helps young children learn to move along a track either side of a central point, as a precursor to working on a number line. Using the familiar nursery rhyme as a context, players roll a die to move either up or down a vertical waterspout. The game can be played with the applet or on paper (printable pdf included). A 2-dice variation introduces strategic thinking. The Teacher' Notes page suggests strategies for introducing the game, questions to facilitate students' thinking, support suggestions, and a link to a more advanced version of the game (Tug of War, cataloged separately).

Why is it helpful to teach the same concept in multiple ways?
What can you learn from Ms. Kungu about teaching to
different learning styles?
How does Ms. Kungu encourage collaboration?

How is literature used as an engagement strategy?
How does Ms. Surita provide multiple opportunities for
students to practice counting?
How could you use counting collections in your classroom?

This problem uses linking cubes as a concrete context for exploring simple multiplication and division, doubling, halves and quarters. The problem displays a rod of 4 cubes and asks students how many cubes are necessary to make rods related to it in a variety of ways. It can be used to introduce key concepts and vocabulary. The Teachers' Notes page offers suggestions for implementation, discussion questions, and ideas for extension and support.

This problem provides an opportunity for children to practice skip-counting and counting on. It lays a foundation for the concept of multiples and proportional thinking. Using linking cubes of two different colors, one color grouped in 2s and the other color grouped in 3s, children look for ways they can make a line of one color equal to a line of the other color. The Teachers' Notes page offers suggestions for implementation, discussion questions, and ideas for extension and support.

This interactive Flash version of the familiar game Concentration helps students develop number sense by matching various symbolic and pictorial representations of single digit numbers. The scoring rewards a systematic strategy over random guessing. The resource includes teacher notes with suggestions for implementation and differentiation, discussion questions, and printable sets of cards (pdf).

Find strategies and activities that you can use in the classroom that tie directly to the Early learning Preschool core standards.

This counting activity is done in pairs and helps reinforce the concepts of greater than, less than, and equal to.

Find resources from NAEYC on how to have playful math learning in school, how children learn and understand math, math ideas for families, and more.

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics advocates for high-quality mathematics teaching and learning for each and every student. Find research and resources related to preschool here.

This web page provides instructions for a basic form of Nim, an ancient game that develops strategic thinking. Starting with a total of 7 counters, two players take turns removing one or two at a time. The player who takes the last counter wins. The game of Nim is very adaptable. This page includes questions that encourage players to generalize a winning strategy as well as a link to another page describing several of variations.

This problem provides an opportunity for students to practice counting and to represent and record findings in different ways: "Noah saw 12 legs walk by into the Ark. How many creatures did he see?" Multiple solution possibilities encourage students to be systematic in their strategies. The Teachers' Notes page offers suggestions for implementation, discussion questions, and an idea for extension.