Count Around the Circle

Let's Count Around the Circle as a Staff!

Count Around the Circle is a routine that involves whole-class or small group participation, with each person saying a number as you count around the circle.

To begin, choose a counting sequence (e.g. count by 1s, count by 2s, count by 5s...).

Staff will count on by 5s.

Have one person start with eight

Now continue to the person on the left to go clockwise around the circle as each person says a number, counting on 5 more

In this example... The first person says “eight”, the second person says “thirteen”, and so on.

The leader may provide the visual support of writing numerals on the board during Count Around the Circle.

Variations on this routine include the following:

• Count by ones, tens, fives, twos, threes, and so on, starting at zero.

• Count by ones, tens, fives, twos, threes, and so on, starting at various numbers.

• Count by fractional numbers. • Count by hundreds or thousands or millions, starting at zero or at various numbers.

To facilitate understanding of the patterns, write the numbers on the board as students say them. Ask a variety of questions to differentiate the level of difficulty.

Please share the learning!

@SMCDSB_Leaders @SMCDSB_Learners

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Interested in more about 'Counting Around the Circle' and using it in your classroom?

Seeing how to count with fractions! Please see the resources below.

Dr. Alex Lawson tells us that we need to provide students with models that will promote mathematical thinking. She refers to these as models "with legs." The hundreds chart is not a model with legs as it promotes holding children back strategically to "count on." This is an early number strategy.

Count around the circle is a model with legs as we can select the unit for the count to problem solve patterns, build mental math with count sequences, and ways of working with numbers. The educator can annotate student responses on a number line in order to show the patterns and deepen mathematical thinking.

Counting Fractions

These students are playing a modified version of the Unit Fractions Counting Game. In this version, students can choose to count one or two unit fractions. Each student whose turn lands on a fraction equivalent to a whole number sits down, while the rest of the group jumps that number of times. The last person standing wins.

UnitFractionsCountingGame_CUT03-HD1080p-5000kbps.mov

See more on this activity by clicking: Fractions Pathway: Counting Game (linked)

Above is an annotation of a fractions count around the circle.

A key teaching point about fractions and decimals:

"Make sure you are reading and saying decimals in ways that support students’ understanding. Always say “five and two tenths” instead of “five point two.” Using the “point” terminology results in a disconnect to the fractional parts that exists in every decimal. This is not unlike the ill-advised reading of fractions as “two over ten”, instead of correctly saying “two tenths”. This level of precision in language will provide your students with the opportunity to hear the connections between decimals and fractions, so that when we hear “two tenths,” they think of both 0.2 and 2/10.

- from Elementary and Middle School Mathematics, by John Van de Walle

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