STEM: Counting and number matching with paper cups

Tuesday 12th June 2018  

Math learning begins early. But math isn’t about showing a child flashcards or teaching equations. It is the hands-on experiences that children do everyday. Math learning includes examining shapes, building forts from cardboard boxes, playing “grocery store,” pouring liquids and other materials, filling and emptying containers of different sizes, and mixing paints to create new colours. And these are only a few examples. Many of children’s everyday activities use math skills, even if we don’t typically think of them in that way. When children play, they explore and build skills and theories about the world. When children investigate their environment, they experience the satisfaction that can come from investigation, discovery, and solving problems. 

When children have opportunities to manipulate concrete materials, they will notice relationships in numeracy, how they connect to one another and with other learning areas. Children should also be provided with opportunities to communicate their ideas, clarify their thoughts and share their thinking about how they solve a problem or come up with a solution. 

The intention today was to support number recognition by making math concepts visible when children connect counting to objects and actions with the use of popsicle sticks and numbered paper cups.  

The materials we used today included: 

+ Brown paper, lined with the shape of the cups and numbered one to ten

+ Popsicle sticks and brown paper cups that were numbered to match the paper 

The objective was for the children to place the sticks into the cups as they count how many sticks they have in their cup and if this matched the number on it. The second goal was for the children to sort, compare and match the numbered cups with the marked paper.   

We observed that the children would work along side one another and even work together as a team to problem solve, often communicating their ideas and opinions openly to reach new understandings. We could see that by using the sticks as counters and matching meant that they saw the relationship between objects and notice that they have some things in common. Through sorting the numbered cups, the children were looking for attributes that are different from the rest. Sorting followed matching and is more difficult because children need to know which objects are the same, which are different and then put them in the respective groups. Placing objects into groups and dealing with relationships within a group assists with logical thinking and reasoning.  

Comparison was a big aspect of the activity as the children worked out what was similar and what was different. We compared quantities using words such as ‘more’, ‘less’ and progressed to using more complex language with ‘more than less’ and ‘fewer than’. We can see the children are moving away from words such as ‘little’ or ‘big’ to describe quantities. Through ordering, we could see the children develop their play over time and placed the numbered cups into a sequence order. They were then able to recite the numbers in a sequence verbally.  

In reflection we observed that some children would know how to count from one to ten in a sequence (rote counting), however it did not mean that they could actually count with accuracy and understanding. When questioned to identify individual numbers, this became a challenge. Just like a memory task or reciting the letters of the alphabet, children could remember the sequence of numbers but the rational meaning behind it was not evident.  

We attempted to create meaning behind each individual number by linking a single number name with one and only one object at a time; that is, one-to-one correspondence. We found that coordinating touch with verbal counting of numbers at the same time was effective. As the children explored and count sets of objects, they began to understand and connect the number name and numeral to the quantity.  

Our team look to focus on the development of numeracy concepts and skills by providing opportunities for children to know, use and apply numeracy concepts and skills meaningfully in their daily experiences. Moving forward, we will attempt to provide experiences that place emphasis on learning from the manipulation of concrete materials. Through the use of manipulatives, our children will notice the relationships between sets of things to be matched, sorted, compared, ordered, made into patterns and counted.