In this unit, students continue to develop counting concepts and skills, including comparing groups of objects and images, and representing quantities with objects, pictures, and numbers.

Previously, students learned structures and routines for activities and centers. They counted up to 10 objects to answer “how many?” questions. They also answered “are there enough?” questions—the basis of comparing quantities.

Here, students rely on familiar activity structures to build counting skills and an understanding of the connection between quantities and numbers. Students first count groups of objects. Then they count groups of images. Objects and images appear in different arrangements, such as lines, arrays, number cube patterns, and on 5-frames. This helps build an understanding that changing the arrangement doesn’t change the quantity.

Use of fingers and 5-frames to represent numbers are emphasized to help students see the structure of numbers 6–10 as . Fingers are also always available and help with counting.

These fingers show 3.

These fingers show 8.

Students also compare numbers of objects and images. To describe the comparisons, students start by using the terms “fewer” and “more.” Later, when comparing written numbers, the term “less” is introduced. In general, “less” is used to compare numerals, and “fewer” is used to compare groups of objects. Students may use these terms interchangeably at first, but they will develop proficiency with the distinction over time.