Unit 2, Lesson 3
Groups That Look Very Different
Kindergarten
Preparation
Lesson Narrative
Since this is the first activity where students compare the number of objects in groups, the numbers selected allow students to visually determine which groups have more objects and which groups have fewer. Students are introduced to the language “more” and “fewer,” however they are not required to produce this language until a future lesson. As you ask students to compare quantities, vary between using “fewer” and “more”. Because “more” occurs regularly in everyday speech, students may be comfortable with “more” initially, but will likely need many chances to hear “fewer” used in comparisons.
In this lesson, students can compare groups of objects without counting, but are asked to count to answer “how many?” questions. This continues to give students practice counting up to 10 objects and begins working toward counting to compare.
None
- MLR8
- Comprehend (in spoken language) the meaning of terms “more”, “fewer”, and “less”.
- Create a group with more or fewer objects than a given group.
- Let’s figure out if there are more green triangles or more orange squares.
Required Materials
Activity 3
Required Preparation
- Each group of 2 needs a bag with 8–10 green triangle pattern blocks and 1–3 orange square pattern blocks.
- 6 connecting cubes and 2 pattern blocks needed for display.
- 8 orange square pattern blocks and 2 green triangle pattern blocks needed for display.
- Each group of 2 needs counters and a bag of green triangle and orange square pattern blocks from the previous activity.
- Gather materials from:
- Shake and Spill, Stage 1
- Math Fingers, Stage 1
- Pattern Blocks, Stages 1–3
- Picture Books, Stages 1 and 2
Suggested Centers
NoneTeacher Reflection Questions
Who did math today in class and how do you know? Identify the norms or routines that allowed those students to engage in mathematics. How can you adjust these norms and routines so all students do math tomorrow?