Early number

activities,

blackline masters

& assessment pages

that are fun and

easy to use

�

E X P L O R I N G M A T H S

Bev Dunbar

1-51-5ExploringExploring

Bev DunbarN U M B E R L O W E R P R I M A R Y 1

IntroductionEXPLORING 1-5

At last! Here are over 100 fun, easy-to-use and easy-to-understand earlynumber activities, with sample programs, blackline masters andassessment pages to make your teaching life easier! All exploring justthe numbers from 1-5!

The resources for each number include flashcards and original rhymesfollowed by a variety of exciting, practical activities for the whole class,groups, pairs or individuals.

By exploring each number for a week at a time, as shown in the sampleprogram, you will be able to cater for at least three ability groups, withplenty to challenge all your students. And the wide range of activitiesmeans that every number is treated in a different way. You’ll never run outof ideas again!

As intelligent, fun-loving, active five year olds, your students probably knowthe basic ideas, but could further develop their understanding of eachnumber through games, activities and social interaction with their friends.Through problem-solving and working with others, your students will learnto inquire and estimate, see patterns and relationships and usedifferent strategies.

This is Book 1 in the three volume Early Number Kit. Together with theother two books, “Exploring 6-10” and “Number Games and Activitiesfor 0-10”, you will have a complete teaching resource for numbers to 10.In fact, there are more than enough number ideas here to keep both youand your students keen and motivated year after year.

And if you think this book, Exploring 1-5, is useful, then why not collect thenext two books as well!

Copyright © Bev Dunbar MATHS Matters 1999.Reprinted 2006, 2008Exploring 1 - 5 ISBN 978 -1-86509-211-9Early Number Kit ISBN 978-1-86509-210-2

Published by Blake EducationLocked Bag 2022Glebe NSW 2037

Printed by Green Giant PressIllustration and design by Janice BowlesThe blackline masters in this book may be reproducedby the original purchaser for use with their class(es) only.

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ContentsHow to use this book 2

General resources 3

Exploring 1 10

Exploring 2 29

Exploring 3 42

Exploring 4 60

Exploring 5 73

Assessment 86

Sample programs 90

Index 94

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2 Exploring 1 - 5

How to use the activitiesEach number unit from 1-5 is explored through 20 or moresuggested activities.

The overall objective is to develop knowledge, skills andunderstandings for the numbers 1 - 5 in a variety of fun,child-centred ways.

The overall outcome for each unit is to estimate, count, compare, order and represent whole numbers up to 5, leading eventually to the study all the numbers to 10.

A complete list of Outcome Indicators is provided on p.89 tohelp you see how and when this objective has been reached.

Coded OutcomeIndicators (see p. 89)S = Sorting

N = Numeration

P = Patterning

C = Counting

O = Operations

WM = Working

Mathematically

Grouping strategies

= individual

= pair

= small group

= whole class

ONE

ONE

PAIR

GROUP

CLASS

Sort the Starfish

Resources:

“Sort the Starfish” BLM, scissors, blue paper squares torn into the shape of

“rockpools” (2 per child), copy of “Five spiky starfish ...” counting rhyme (p. 80)

Activity A:

Recite the rhyme. Ask five children to act out the parts. Explore different ways to rearrange

the children in the two pools. Which pool has more? Which pool has fewer starfish? Do

they both have the same number of starfish? Is there an odd or even number in this pool?

Activity B:

Each person cuts out 5 starfish, or draws their own. How many different ways can you

discover to put the 5 starfish into the 2 rockpools? (eg. 0 and 5, 1 and 4, 2 and 3 ...) Make

up a story to match your actions. Tell a partner.

C3 N2,3,6 O1,4 WM1,2,3

You’ll need

these before

the activity

starts.

Examples

related to

each specific

number.

Original

counting

rhymes for

eachnumber.

A special feature in this book is the Sample Yearly Programfor Mathematics (see p.90). This shows you one way to plan a 40 week teaching year, exploring each number for a week at a time, as well as fitting in explorations in Space, Measurement, Chance and Data.

More specifically, the Sample Weekly Programs show you how to implement this yearly program on a Monday to Friday basis, using the activities with the whole class, groups, pairs or individuals.

• A general example on p.91 shows you how you could manage rotating groups over the five days.

• A more specific example, for the number “3”, on p.92 shows you an alternative way to organise a selection of activities from “Exploring 3“ (p. 42-59) as a five day unit.

• A final blank proforma on p.93 can be used to write your own weekly program based on the examples shown.

Each activityincludes codedspecific OutcomeIndicators to helpyour planning,programmingand unit assessment.

This exampleshows how easyit is to use eachactivity.

How to use the sample programs

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Some of the resources can be purchased from educational suppliers. Others will be available at localsupermarkets or as “junk” collections from the students’ homes.

Remember also to think about the right storage solutions for your room. Inexpensive plastic containerswith strong lids in a variety of sizes can be purchasedfrom supermarkets and bargain stores.

For use as counters• bottle tops (home brewing supplies)•plastic farm animals•plastic teddy bears•circle counters•stick counters•beads and string for threading• tubular pasta•paddle pop sticks

For sorting/counting activitiesSmall containers labelled 1 -10•yoghurt or margarine tubs with lids•matchboxes•egg cartons•paper bags

Large containers labelled 1 - 10•shoeboxes• icecream containers with lids

Getting startedBefore you start, it’s a good idea to look aroundyour room and check you have plenty of interesting number resources for activity-basedlearning. The following suggestions are a useful guide.

Exploring 1 - 5 3

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4 Exploring 1 - 5

Writing activities• A3 paper for class books• crayons, pencils• large and small paintbrushes• tubs of paint with lids• chalk, small chalkboards• plasticine, lino squares • playdough (see recipe below)

General• dice• spinners•3D wooden shapes with 3,4,5,6, and 8 sides• sets of dot cards- random, domino pattern,

twos pattern (see p. 5, 8, 9)• sets of ordinal number cards (see p. 6, 7)•dominoes•geostrips, split pins• geoboards, elastic bands• DUPLO, multilink blocks•old magazines

Playdough recipe(enough for 3 - 6 children)

2 cups of flour1 cup of saltwater1 tablespoon of peanut oilA few drops of oil of wintergreen (or oil of cloves)Food colouring

• Mix the flour, salt and oils together in a largebowl with a small amount of water to make a ballof dough. Divide the ball into three parts. Adddrops of food colouring and knead in to makethree coloured balls. Store in an airtight container.

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8 Exploring 1 - 5 Blake Education Reproducible

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Exploring 1 - 5 Blake Education Reproducible 9

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1

What comes in ones?Resources:An orange, a picture of a unicycle, about ten A3 pages stapled into a book.

Activity:Hold up 1 finger. Shake and wiggle it around. Ask the children to think of things they know that come in “ones”.eg. mum

my nosemy headwheels on a unicycle

What else comes in ones?eg. the sun

the moonthe handset on a telephonethe tail on a lion

Make “Our Book about One” by drawing and labelling some of these suggestions onto A3 paper.

14 Exploring 1 - 5

Body RhythmsActivity:Ask individual children to invent a “ones” body rhythm pattern for other children to follow.eg. clap hands once

hit kneestap headstamp feet

Repeat several times saying the words aloud.eg. “clap, hit, tap, stamp, clap, hit, tap, stamp, clap, hit, tap, stamp ...”

What is a unicorn?Resources:A book about a unicorn,“What is a Unicorn” BLM.

Activity:Discuss the ways different cultures tell their children stories about mythical creatures. The uniciorn is one of these. It is like a horse with one large horn onits forehead. Read the class a story about a unicorn. Discuss the fantasy horn asa special example of “one”. Everyone hold up one hand like a horn on theirhead. How many unicorns now?

Written activity:Children draw their own unicorn as a follow-up to the story. Or they can colourin a copy of the Unicorn BLM.

S2,3 N3 WM1

P1,2

WM2 C4

BLM

CLASS

CLASS

ONE

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Blake Education Reproducible Exploring 1 - 5 1 15

What is a Unicorn?

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Exploring 1 - 5 1 27

Activity:Discuss each of the pictures on the activity sheet.Look at the dog. Her name is “Spot”. Draw one large spot on her body.Look at the monster. Draw in one eye, one arm and one leg.Look at the apple tree. The farmer forgot to pick the last apple. Draw one large apple on the tree.Look at the fishbowl. Sam and Sarah just bought a new fish. Draw one fish swimming inside the bowl.Look at the cake. Baby Minh is one today. Draw one thick candle on the cake.Look at the blank space at the bottom right of the page. Draw your own picture about “one” there.Now go back and write a “1" beside all the things to do with one.

(Use the same sheet later in the year as a checkup for any of the numbers from 1-10)

Make it OneResources:“Make it one” BLM, crayons.

C3 N4

C3 N2

ONE

BLM

BLM

Guess the dotsResources:Large random and 2s dot pattern cards (enlarged to A3, see p.8-9).

Activity:A quick practice activity to develop estimation skills. Shuffle the dot cards, withthe dots facing towards you, hidden from the class. Hold up a random card towards the class for about 3 seconds, then hide itagain. Ask the children to guess how many dots they saw. Check by counting.Repeat, gradually making the viewing time shorter and shorter, until it is only for1 second.

CLASS

Using the Outcome IndicatorsEach activity described in this book includes a set of outcome indicators, incode, to help you with your class assessment. See page 89 for details.

Find time during each week to record class progress, based on observation, discussion and work samples. When rushed for time, record at least a representative number of children from different ability groups by filling in thesquares with a meaningful code of your own.

eg. = Introduced to this concept

= well on the way to understanding this concept

= definitely grasps this concept

Don’t panic if by the end of the week you only complete a sample!

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Exploring 1 - 5 2 37

Mix it upResources:Red/yellow/blue/black/white paint, paper, paint palettes/lids for mixing paint, brushes, water, plastic sheets/newspaper, paintingsmocks/shirts, A3 pages stapled to make a class book.

Activity:Explore what happens when you mix two different paint colourstogether. How many different new colours can you discover?Collect the colour samples together in a book. Remember to washyour brushes after each experiment.

eg.

What happens when you mix blue and yellow? Black and yellow?White and yellow? Red and yellow? Repeat for other combinations.

How could you sort these new colours?(eg. these all have yellow in them ...) Explain your sort to a friend.

BLM

S1,2,3 C3 WM1,2,3

C4 P1,2ONE

GROUP

Indian HeaddressResources:Coloured and laminated copies of “Indian Head-dress”BLM, plenty of coloured paddle-pop sticks.

Activity:Explain how indian chiefs wore beautiful feather head-dresses in the past. Show how to construct a twos pattern with the sticks as the feathers in the head-dress.

Swap patterns with a friend. Can you repeat their patternwith your sticks? Can you repeat your pattern until it is aslong as the desk? How many sticks altogether?

Use this same workcard later in the year to make threesor fours patterns too.

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238 Exploring 1 - 5 Blake Education Reproducible

Indian Headdress

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Exploring 1 - 54 67

Blindfold MeResources:A variety of wooden/plastic 4-sided 2D shapes (eg. squares, oblongs, kites, trapeziums ...),a few non-4-sided shapes, 4 blindfolds.

Activity:Ask individual children to come to the front and wear the blindfolds. Place a shape in their hands. Can they tell whether it has four sides or not? Can they explain their reasons?

Geostrip ShapesResources:A variety of wooden/plastic 4-sided 2D shapes (eg. squares, oblongs,kites, trapeziums ...), strips of cardboard/geostrips, split pins.

Activity:Hold up a 4-sided shape. Demonstrate how to construct the outlineof a similar shape with 4 pieces of cardboard and 4 split pins.

Observe how there are many different regular and irregular shapesthat can be constructed.

Children construct their own 4-sided shapes with cardboard andsplit pins.

Investigate and discuss all the different 4-sided shapes they can make.

Written Activity:Draw some of the discoveries on paper. Draw 4 things inside eachshape. Write the numbers from 1-4 on each side.

Go fly a KiteResources:“Go fly a Kite” BLM, crayons, scissors, two 2 cm wide cardboardstrips, crepe paper, paste, cotton ties.

Activity:Discuss kites together, as examples of 4-sided shapes. Cut out thekite outline. Cut carefully along the 8 dotted lines. Weave two cardboard strips through the holes as indicated.Decorate tails with crepe paper streamers and 4 bows. Write a “4” in the centre of the kite.

Attach a long piece of strong cotton at the back. Go into the playground and try to fly your kite!

BLM

S1,2,3 N3 C3 WM1,2

C3 N1,3,4 WM1,2

C4 N3,4 CLASS

CLASS

GROUP

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468 Exploring 1 - 5 Blake Education Reproducible

Go fly a Kite

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E X P L O R I N G M A T H S

1-51-5NUMBER Exploring 1 - 5Exploring 6 - 10Games and Activities for 0 - 10

Exploring 0 - 50 NumerationExploring 0 - 50 Operations

Exploring 0 - 100 NumerationExploring 0 - 100 Operations Exploring FractionsExploring MoneyExploring Calculators How to have a Maths Fun Day

EXPLORING 1 - 5 NUMBER LOWER PRIMARY

About the authorOriginally a primary school teacher, Bev Dunbar is now actively involved in teachereducation as a Mathematics Consultant and University Lecturer in MathematicsEducation working in both the State and Catholic Education systems.

Bev is a passionate believer in fun, practical resources which help teachers make maths lessons a highlight of the day.

Exploring 1 - 5 includes• More than 100 activity-based, easy to

use teaching ideas

• A unique emphasis on each number

• Over 50 blackline masters designed for non-readers

• Five counting rhyme mini-posters

• Useful number resources and flashcards

• Assessment tasks and ideas

• Outcome indicators

• A sample weekly program and a Yearly Maths overview

In fact, everything you need to bring thenumbers 1 - 5 alive in your classroom.

Titles in the Exploring Maths series

The Exploring Maths series is designed to provide busy teacherswith practical resources that are fun and easy to use. Each book contains a wealth of activities, blackline masters and assessment tasks for a whole life-time of teaching. These activitiesencourage your children to think mathematically by exploring, experimenting, being creative and taking risks. By asking questions and active discovery, children learn to enjoy usingmathematics as part of their everyday lives.

N U M B E R L O W E R P R I M A R Y