Counting Collections

First Grade Math

by Lily Jones August 9, 2018

Counting collections are a great way to help students practice counting while gaining practice recording and
justifying their thinking. Students will work specifically with the numbers 1-30 to develop fluency counting and
writing numbers.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to count within 30.

Materials and preparation Key terms

Bags of 1-30 like objects, such as buttons, dice, count

Introduction (5 minutes)

Show students a bag of like objects. Consider having the class sit in a circle so students can see the
whole group of objects.
Ask students to estimate, or guess, how many objects are in the group.
EL

Beginning:

Create an illustrated word bank of the items that students will count in the counting collections,
beginning with the item that you are using to demonstrate.
Model estimating as you think aloud, estimating amounts of items in the classroom such as
crayons in a bin or marbles in the class marble jar. Tell students, "I estimate that there are about
__ __ __ __ crayons in this tub."
For Spanish-speaking students, point out cognate estimate/estimar.
Intermediate:
Invite students to share their estimate with a partner using the sentence frame "I estimate that
there are about __ __ __ __ ." Explain that when we say "about" or "approximately" we are giving
our best guess how many items there are.

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling (5 minutes)

Tell students that you are going to count how many objects are in the group. When counting large
groups, it can be easy to lose track of what you count. Tell students you are going to count and then
record what you counted to double-check your work.
Count the objects one by one, saying numbers aloud as you count. Invite students to chorally count with
you. When you have counted all the objects, write the number of objects on the board.
Now tell students that you are going to record your work.

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Beginning:

Tell students that double means twice, or two times. By double-checking their work, they will be
checking it two times.
Display a poster that includes numerals and number names for reference.
Explain that, in this activity, a "group" means a collection of things. Students often work together
with a group of other students. Today, they will count groups of items.
Intermediate:
Explain that to record means to write down. Give examples of things students may have recorded,
such as number of minutes read in their reading logs.

Guided Practice (10 minutes)

To record your work, use the whiteboard or a piece of paper to draw circles, lines, or other symbols.
Have a student come up to the front of the class to count the objects one by one as you draw. Encourage
the rest of the class to count along with the student.
As the student counts, draw the objects on the board.
When the counting is done, call on another student to come up and check your drawing. Did your drawing
have the same number of objects as the class counted? Write numbers under each picture to check.
EL

Beginning:

Consider writing the number word as well as the numeral below each object to help students
connect the numeral with the spoken number name.
Allow students to count in their home language (L1) if they do not know number names in English.
Partner students with a peer with speaks the same L1 if possible.
Intermediate:
Count backwards from the total number as you erase the objects.

Independent working time (25 minutes)

Have students work in pairs. Pass out a counting collection and piece of paper to each pair.
As students count, they should create a representation to show how they counted. As students gain
fluency with the activity, encourage them to count by twos, fives, or tens. Ask students to write numbers
with their representations to show how they counted.
When students finish counting one collection, they can trade collections with another pair.
EL

Beginning:

Display a poster with the steps for the activity: 1) Count one object 2) Draw one object on the
piece of paper 3) Write the total number of objects in the group
Include visuals of different ways to represent the objects, such as circles or tally marks, on the
poster.
Check that students understand that they do not need to draw the objects themselves. Model
creating quick representations to track the count.
Intermediate:
Encourage students to share ideas with a partner about faster ways to count the total number,
such as counting by two, fives, and tens. Challenge students to represent skip counting with a
drawing.

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Find interactive books for each child’s level.

Differentiation

Support:

Have students count by ones and draw a circle for each object they count.
Work with select students in a teacher-led group.

Enrichment:

Have students estimate before they count.

Assessment (5 minutes)

Ask students to explain their counting strategies and how they checked their work.
EL

Beginning:

Check that students count accurately using the number names in English. Students may need
extra support with numbers 11-20. Listen to make sure students say thirteen vs. thirty where
appropriate.
Intermediate:
Ask guiding questions such as: "What strategy did you use to count the objects?" "How did drawing
the objects help you count accurately?"

Review and closing (5 minutes)

Have students who counted the same collections share their final count. If the pairs came up with
different numbers, count the collection as a group.
EL

Beginning:

Allow students to share their final count with a partner before sharing out to whole class using the
sentence frame: "My collection had __ __ __ __."
Intermediate:
Tell students to share their final count without using the sentence frame or illustrated word bank.
Have students compare the final count of their objects to other groups' using comparatives
including more, less, and equal.

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