Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/learning-to-count-to-14-the-common-core-way-and-the-developmentally-appropriate-way/5022755/
Scenario #1: Learning to Count?
There are 25 kindergartners seated on a rug. The teacher, Janet, puts a pile of wooden craft sticks out and asks, "How many are here?" "20!" Alex responds. Other children repeat in unison, "20!" The teacher asks, "How do you know, Alex?" "….um, I guessed," he says sheepishly. "No guessing allowed!" Janet admonishes. "Class. How do we know how many we have?" In unison many children respond, "We count." "That’s right! We count."
Janet leads the children in counting the sticks, pointing to each one… "1, 2, 3…11, 12, 13, 14." "How many do we have?" she repeats. A few children respond in unison, "14." Janet loudly asks the question again, "How many?" This time most children say, "14!" "That’s right," she exclaims, "there are 14, not 20. Remember, counting gets the RIGHT answer!" She places another stick on the rug. “Now what if I add one more here, how many do I have?" One child starts to touch the craft sticks to count. "No touching!" Janet says, "just pointing!" as she starts pointing and leading the next count to 15. Then, she sends the children to their seats with a worksheet that has drawings of 4 sets ...