The following resources were chosen to be used in a kindergarten classroom. As these youngsters begin to familiarize themselves with numbers and counting, books and websites are a great tools to facilitate their learning.
BOOKS:
Anno’s Counting Book, written and illustrated by Matsumasa Anno – This book is wordless and introduces students to the number system. The book goes through the 12 months, showing the growth of the town while providing the number written in large font on each page.
How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?, written by Margaret McNamara and illustrated by G. Brian Karas – This book tells a story about a class being asking to count the seeds in a pumpkin. The students must estimate and then groups skip count seeds in different ways: by twos, by fives, and by tens.
10 Little Rubber Ducks, written and illustrated by Eric Carle – The book is about 10 rubber ducks who are being skipped across the sea, but a wave knocks them into the ocean. Then 10 ducks are swept in different directions. This book is a great way to show your students ordinal positioning because it shows where each duck goes in order (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so on to 10th).
My Little Sister Ate One Hare, written by Bill Grossman and illustrated by Bill Hawkes – In this grotesque cumulative counting book, a little sister eats two snakes, three ants, but when she has to eat ten peas, she just can’t do it! The book also rhymes.
The M&M’s Count to One Hundred Book, written by Barbara Barbieri McGrath – A rhyming book that uses M&M candies to illustrate counting to 100 by putting the candies in rows. Students can use real M&Ms to follow along with the book and count by ones, twos, fives, and tens.
INTERACTIVE WEBSITES FOR STUDENTS:
- Curious George’s Count Your Chickens game is an interactive counting game to 10. Chickens are in a pin and students must count them and then choose the correct number. Once the student chooses a number, The Man with the Yellow Hat check the students work and counts out loud.
- Fishy Count is another game that asks students to count up to 10. Fish swim across the screen and then stop. Once they stop, the student counts the number of fish and chooses an answer. If they student guesses the wrong answer, the game will count out loud, correcting the problem.
- Count the Cubes sets cubes in tricky places and asks students to count. Students count and can either choose a number on the screen or type the number on their keyboard. Students get points for answering correctly and even more points if they arrive at the answer quickly.
- Squigley’s Apple is a very simple game to help students with ordinal positions. Squigley the worm hides in one of the 10 apples. Students are asked to figure out what apple Squigley is in and pick to ordinal number that tells the number of Squigley’s apple.
- A ghost in Spooky Sequences is missing a number. Students can either choose to play a sequence that skips counts by fives or by tens. Once students figure out what number in the sequence is missing, they can click the numbers and press enter to see if their answer is correct. If their answer is correct, Spooky goes back into his haunted house and a new sequence will appear.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES (FOR TEACHERS):
- Numbers and counting offers an example of a counting math center. With picture examples, links, and downloadable materials, this site has everything a teacher needs to create the perfect counting math center.
- Mathwire: Counting Games has downloadable math games that can be used as part of a lesson or at centers. The site also has a link to online games that help students understand basic math concepts.
- Counting and Numbers has great counting activities for students. Since this site is geared toward pre-schoolers, it would probably be best to use these activities early in the year when kindergardeners are learning basic counting (1-10 or 1-15). The activities offered on this site not only help to strengthen counting skills, but also promotes gross motor development.