First graders are currently immersed in our Organizing and Collecting math unit which revisits strategies for counting accurately, builds number sense, and investigates place value. Within the context of a solving a community math problem, helping Mrs. Lockhart and Mrs. McDermott count and keep track of food inventory in the cafeteria, first graders count, bundle materials, and label containers of supplies in the classroom. Discussions focus on organizing in groups and skip-counting, then specifically on groups of ten. Supported by the ten-frame, students begin to develop an understanding of place value (place determines value, place value patterns occur when making and adding on groups of 10) by constructing the idea that the number of complete groups of 10 items and loose items (1s) is related to the total number of objects and that the numbers change prdictibly when a group of ten is added or removed. An important first grade math concept is unitizing, understanding that "ten" is both a unit, "one ten", and 10 individual items, "10 ones", simultaneously. Practice organizing and counting a large number of items at home (50-120) will support this investigation and improve counting accuracy as numbers get bigger!
