Unit 1- Counting People, Sorting Buttons

About the Mathematics in This Unit

Kindergarten is starting the year with a mathematics unit called Counting People, Sorting Buttons from the Investigations 3 Curriculum. This unit serves as an introduction to some of the mathematical routines students will do all year.

These routines include:

• Counting to take attendance

• Using the calendar to count days and to keep track of time and events

• Counting and recording the number of objects in a jar, and creating a set with the same number

• Counting and analyzing data about our class, such as how many students do (and do not) have a younger sibling

In addition, students are introduced to the manipulatives they will use in mathematics this year and to routines for using and taking care of such materials.

In this unit, students also use these materials to begin to work on sorting and counting. For example, they carefully examine a button and then look for attributes that some buttons have in common

Related Activities to Try at Home 

Calendar Explore the calendar as a tool for keeping track of time and events by showing your child how you use it. When you write in an appointment or a family event, or when you use it to find how many more days until a special event, talk with your child about what you’re doing.

Describing Encourage your child to describe the physical features of objects and to think about how objects are alike or different. For example:

•How would you describe this ball? 

            (e.g., red, round, big)

•How is the ball the same as this box?

            (They are both red.)

• How are they different? 

            (The ball is round, but the box is square,

               or the box is small.)

Also, encourage your child to use words to describe where a picture or object is in relation to another 

   (e.g., next to, near, under, over, below, above).

Counting Take advantage of any opportunities to count with your child. Children learn to count accurately by having many opportunities to see and hear other people count and to count on their own. You can model this by:

•Counting out napkins or plates for the table

•Counting the number of stairs as you go up or down

•Counting the number of a particular object (e.g., dogs, signs, or cars) as you walk down the street

•Counting the number of items in a collection of plastic animals, cars, or other small toys

Sorting If you have a button (or other) collection, you and your child could talk about different ways to sort the buttons. Your child might like to teach you Button Match-Up. In this game, one player chooses a button, and then both players work together to find buttons that have one thing that is the same. For example, any button with two holes matches this button, as does any button that is black, small, or plastic.