Week Five: Pre and Early Number

BIG Ideas.
​WK5, Lecture and Tutorial

• As a pre-service educator I am aware pre and early number is prerequisite knowledge to commence the study of number in a formal setting. ​I can facilitate this learning through using attributes in the five senses: smell, taste, see, hear, feel (Gardner, 2011; Reys et al., 2012).

I can extend on students' pre-number concepts and beginning processes which occur prior to formal studies, I can encourage students' to use these as skills:

• Determining attributes (name likeness and difference)
• Matching by attributes (Describing the likeness)
• Sorting by attributes (Three or more objects based on significant attribute)
• Comparing attributes (Two or more objects are examined for likeness and difference)
• Ordering attributes (Order two or more by increase or decrease in attribute i.e. size, weight, height, volume)
• Patterning (I can encourage the relationship with prior pre-number mathematics concepts through visuals, auditory and kinaesthetic movement)

I found it highly intresting and benefital to learn counting is not demonstrated without an awareness of the five counting principles:

1. one to one correspondence: one object is equal to one place value
2. stable order (1…9), correctly ordering
3. cardinal principle (last number counted tells how many in the set), how many is altogether just given the one digit
4. abstraction (what it is possible to count e.g., number of people vs liquid in a glass)
5. order irrelevance (left to right or right to left?)

(R. Jamison-Proctor, April 4, 2016).

Concept Skills and Strategies.

​​Sorting Attributes

• Concept: Picture of grouping objects into different groups based on one or more attributes
• Skill: Decide, do and describe the attribute of the sort.
• Strategy: How you will achieve the sort, e.g. sorting chart, circles to sort, cups or contains, the process of actually doing the sorting using attribute blocks as a resource.

Language Model.

Teaching Strategy.

teaching_pre-number.pptx
File Size:	210 kb
File Type:	pptx

Download File

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This digital resource demonstrates how I plan to conduct my lessons in the progression through the importance of whole class modelling and demonstrating prior to the students physically engaging in their own sorting of objects.  It is currently conducting a lesson in materials language, as an introduction I would use same and different rather than compare and contrast, as heard in the video (Bruner, 1966).

Misconception.

Students' need a clear understanding of language and their requirements in the task, for younger students the notion of sorting objects into two attributes may occur in a misconception. When students lack an understanding of "and" it will become difficult to sort into groups of two or more attributes, resulting in one sort (Reys et al., 2012). I can use the sorting circle example above to remediate this misconception as well as introducing transitions in the classroom using "people wearing red and black today can pack away first"

The Australian Curriculum.

ACMNA005

SCOOTLE

Kitchen Sort

Attribute Blocks

These Scootle resources have been chosen to extend students' knowledge of sorting, through providing materials with numerous similar and different properties. Students' engagement in these resources develops new ways of sorting attributes. 

Personal Resources and Ideas...

Critical to mathematical understanding

Sorting and Classifying Activities

All sorts of sorting

These hyperlinks have addressed the importance of embedding sorting throughout many contexts in my classroom. They have suggested future activities I have considered with my early years classrooms.  

Synthesis of Reys et al., 2012

• Number Sense: Constructed of prenumber and informal number,  early number development and number development and counting.
• ​​Counting Strategies: Counting on, counting back and skip counting
• Writing Numbers: I can facilitate students struggling with this requirement to use a calculator
  
• Making Connections:

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment, Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2015). Australian curriculum F-10. Retrieved from http://www.acara.edu.au/home_page.html​
​Bruner, J. S. (1966). Toward a theory of instruction. (Vol. 59). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Complabteacher. (2011). What are alike and different. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duvjNmKUSac
Learning Resources Inc. ( 20 April, 2008). Teaching attributes with sorting circles. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1robXT2uVs
Reys, R., Lindquist, M., Lambdin, D., Smith, N., Rogers, A., Falle, J., Frid, S., & Bennett, S. (2012). Helping children learn Mathematics (1st Australian ed.). Milton: John Wiley & Sons.