Life is a numbers game

1. Life is a numbers game Kayle richardson - capital area head start

2. How did you use math today?? • Smart by Shel Silverstein • My dad gave me one dollar bill • 'Cause I'm his smartest son • And I swapped it for two shiny quarters • 'Cause two is more than one! • And then I took the quarters • And traded them to Lou • For three dimes -- I guess he don't know • That three is more than two! • Just then, along came old blind Bates • And just 'cause he can't see • He gave me four nickels for my three dimes, • And four is more than three! • And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs • Down at the seed-feed store, • And the fool gave me five pennies for them, • And five is more than four! • And then I went and showed my dad, • And he got red in the cheeks • And closed his eyes and shook his head— • Too proud of me to speak!

3. Are you a mathophobe?? • Do you get a mysterious headache when your teen brings home math homework? • When it comes to big store sales, do you immediately whip out the calculator on your phone or rely on the discount chart? • As tax season approaches, do you have nightmares, and not because you’re worried about being audited? • Thinking back to high school or college math courses, do you begin to sweat?

4. If you answered yes… • To any of these questions, you may be a MATHOPHOBE! • Math phobia is a real problem! • “Poor teaching leads to the inevitable idea that the subject (mathematics) is only adapted to peculiar minds, when it is the one universal science, and the one whose ground rules are taught to us almost in infancy and reappear in the motions of the universe.” – H.J.S Smith

5. Math anxiety • An emotional reaction to mathematics based on a past unpleasant experience which harms future learning • Factors: • Prior negative experiences with math • Pressure of timed tests • Feeling of inferiority

6. Don’t transfer your math phobia to kids! • The best way to conquer your math anxiety is to make math relevant and fun! • We all use math daily. • We are much better at it than we think. • We pass math attitude to children the same way we pass language and traditions. • We can present math to kids as a friend, weapon, tool, and toy.

7. What is math?? • As a group, brainstorm ideas as to what you think math entails. • Focus specifically on the Infant/Toddler setting. • Record your answers on the chart paper. • Be prepared to share your list. • Don’t panic!

8. From the mouths’ of babes… • “I put a plate, a spoon, and a cup at each chair.” • “Look! Tiny to giant!” • “1, 2, 5, 4, 3. I have 3 blocks.” • “That puzzle piece don’t go there…” • “I dumped water on the sand castle and it went away.” • “I have more blocks than you. My pile’s bigger.” • “I drawed a map to the secret treasure.” • “Red, blue, red, blue, red, blue.” • “The block tower fell ‘cause it was too big.” • “The green crayons go here, not yellow.”

9. activities Outdoor seek & Find Filling the tub ELS: 2.1.2, 2.3.6 Materials: Turkey Basters Tubs with water Plastic Cups Paper and Markers Smock Drop Cloth Sponges Activity: Have children fill turkey basters and fill a washtub, counting how many basters of water the washtub holds and recording on the paper with tallies. Have various sized cups and encourage children to compare the amount of water that different cups hold. • ELS: 2.6.1, 2.6.3, 2.6.5 • Materials: • Pencils • Paper • Clipboards • Writing Utensil • Activity: • Pick 3 or 4 items that children should be looking for on walk • Make a chart using pictures of the items • Take a walk outside or around the school • Each time a child sees that item, make a tally mark on their sheet • When back together, count the tally marks • Will encourage children to compare the numbers of each item

10. activities Number soup Rhythm stick fun ELS: 2.8 Materials: Rhythm Sticks (2 per student) Activity: Ask “What do you know about patterns?” and “What do you know about sequences?” Give each child 2 rhythm sticks and explore the different ways they can use the sticks. After a few minutes, ask for volunteers to share what they did and have the entire class try what the leader demonstrates. Ask Ss to watch and copy as you create a simple pattern and then have the students join you. Begin to add words to the pattern. Ask Ss to come up with their own 4-beat patterns. Add labels. • ELS: 3.1c.4, 1.1.2 • Materials: • Plastic tub filled with sand or other substance • Small letters, colors, numbers, etc. • Spoons or things to dig with • Activity: • Place the tub of sand and hidden letters or objects in front of each child. • Tell the kids “This is number soup, but they have all disappeared.” • Stir the sand and try to have the children identify the objects they pull out. • They can also count and sort the objects they find also. • They can put the letters and numbers in order. • The children can bury the objects again for the next friend to find.

11. activities Movement patterns Bike wash ELS: 2.3.2, 2.3.6 Materials: Buckets of Water Washrags Towels Bikes or Other Riding Toys Activity: Encourage children to fill up their own buckets with water and pick a washrag. Conversations may include ideas about how full or heavy the buckets become once water is added Listen for position and direction words • ELS: 2.8.3 • Materials: • None • Activity: • Begin with a two part movement • Ask children to suggest two movements • Use the word “pattern” and related language • Say each pattern aloud, emphasizing the first movement of each repetition

12. activities Tube tunnels Number hunt ELS: 2.1.1, 2.1.2 Materials: Cards, books, or pictures that show numbers or number names Activity: Before children enter, place numbers and number names for the numbers 1-10, all around the room. Try to mix hiding places that are somewhat obvious and those that are more tricky Provide a place where kids can line up their stash of numbers and number names, and place them in order. • ELS: 2.3.1, 2.3.2, 2.3.6 • Materials: • Wrapping paper or Paper towel tubes • Matchbox cars • Tools for measuring distance • Activity: • “I wonder how fast the cars go through the different tubes.” • Children see how long it takes to roll cars through full and half length tubes

13. activities Leaf pattern prints Basket toss ELS: 2.6 Materials: 5 Beanbags or other tossable items Small container Large container 1 piece of chart paper Activity: Stand about 3 feet away from a large container and toss your five beanbags one at a time toward the basket Each time kids shoot a set of 5 beanbags, ask them to count the number of baskets they made and record it When kids have several scores, ask them to indicate the highest/lowest number • ELS: 2.8.3 • Materials: • Cardboard • Freshly fallen leaves • Craft glue • Tempera paint in any color your child would like • Cookie sheet • Rolling Pin • Paper • Spoon • Activity: • Arrange leaves on cardboard in a pattern and glue down. • Place a spoonful of paint on a cookie sheet and run rolling pin through. • Roll paint on to leaves and place a piece of paper on top of leaf template. • Smooth the paper over the leaves. • Peel off paper to reveal the leaves imprinted on the paper.

14. activities Flip & turn worms How tall is…? ELS: 2.3.1, 2.3.6 Materials: Adult shoe Child show Butcher paper Markers/Crayons Activity: Trace copies of body outline prior to class and tape on to wall. Ask “How tall do you think I am?” and record estimates Use the adult shoe as a measuring tool. Give each group a copy of your body outline. Have them measure using child and adult shoe. Chart and compare • ELS: 2.9 • Materials: • 5-10 small, flat elongated objects such as wooden blocks, Duplos, or Legos that can also stand on end • Activity: • “These are called flip and turn worms. They move by making flips and turns.” • Midway through encourage kids to lie on the floor and flip and turn their own bodies.

15. activities Strike up the band Musical patterns ELS: 2.8.3 Materials: CD of instrumental music familiar to the children Activity: Put on the music and pat the pattern “floor, knees, floor, knees.” Encourage kids to follow your pattern. Continue to make patterns to the beat • ELS: 2.4.1, 2.8.1 • Materials: • Instruments and Noisemakers • 2 Large Containers for sorting instruments • Activity: • Tell a story about a “loud” band and a “quiet/soft” band. • Give each child a small container of instruments and put the two large containers in the middle of the table. • Encourage children to try each instrument and decide if it is loud or soft.

16. activities How long is a minute? Recycled materials & 3-d Constructions ELS: 2.9 Materials: Variety of scrap and recycled materials Cardboard boxes Masking tape and scissors Activity: Encourage the kids to use the materials provided to build a 3-D structure. • ELS: 2.3 • Materials: • Watch or Timer with stopwatch function • Chart paper and markers • Activity: • “Let’s find out how long a minute is. March in place until you think one minute has passed. I’ll time you and we’ll write down how long each of you marches.” • Ask them once again to march in place but this time to continue marching until you tell them one minute has passed.

17. activities Put it in black & white Bounce for fun To the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” Oh, the baby’s on my knee, on my knee, on my knee Oh, the baby’s on my knee jiggling up and down Oh the baby wheewheewhee Wheewheewhee Baby’s going whee, whee, whee And now she’s dipping down • Newborns can see the high contrast of simple, large black and white patterns more easily than the subtle shades of brightly colored ones. • Hang black and white images where child can see them. • By about two months, he will be able to distinguish the subtle shades of gray almost as well as you can.

18. activities Sing loudly and softly Move up and down To demonstrate the spatial meaning of up and down, say “up” when lifting your baby and say “down” when lowering him. Use a high-pitched voice on the way up and a lower-pitched tone on the way down, so he’ll start to understand that voices go up and down too. • Introduce the baby to the notion of loud and soft volumes with “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.” • Sing this verse over and over, more quietly each time, until you’re just moving your lips-except for the last time, which should always be sung with loud gusto.

19. activities Kiss the toes Fill up the jar Once a baby can sit up on his own, give him a plastic jar with an extra-wide mouth and some small, age-appropriate toys. Guide his hand and show him how to put the toys into the jar This teaches about spatial relations Demonstrating how to remove the toys boosts problem solving skills • One, two, three, four, five • Hey baby! These toes are alive!

20. activities Stuff a box Sort the shapes With a shape-sorter toy, first show your child how the round piece fits into the round hole, then show him how the square and triangular pieces fit into their matching holes. This activity teaches spatial relations and shape discrimination. • Cut a large hole in the lid or side of a shoe box, then show your baby how to stuff toys through the hole and into the box. • He’ll learn about the relative sizes of toys and about object permanence. Picking up and pushing toys through the hole will also help him develop fine motor skills.

21. activities Stack the containers Pass the ball Learning to roll or even stop a ball helps toddlers refine their gross motor skills and develop hand-eye coordination. It also helps them develop a sense of timing as they attempt to figure out how long it will take before the ball reaches them. • Show the baby how to balance different-sized plastic containers on top of each other, and how to nest the small containers inside the big ones. • This activity teaches spatial relations and how to discriminate between various shapes and sizes.

22. activities The finger band Parachute play Walking in a circle, hold the blanket or parachute over your toddler’s head singing “Ring Around the Rosy” or another appropriate song that your child likes. At the end of the song, let the parachute float down to the floor over your toddler. • To the tune of “The Mulberry Bush” • The finger band has come to town, come to town, come to town. • The finger band has come to town so early in the morning. • The finger band can play the drums, play the drums, play the drums. • The finger band can play the drums so early in the morning. • The finger band can play the flute, play the flute, play the flute. • The finger band can play the flute, so early in the morning.

23. activities Bubble busters The pillow course Create a simple, safe obstacle course in your living room by laying out a path of pillows and cushions. Encourage your child to complete the course by crawling or walking along the path. Vary the height of the path by stacking a couple of pillows. Use cushions or pillows of varying sizes, colors, and textures. • Use a large wand to make big bubbles and cheer her as she chases and pops them, then repeat with a smaller wand. • Blow forcefully when you’re creating a shower of tiny bubbles and softly when you’re making a huge bubble. • Blow the bubbles up high and down low, saying “high” or “low” as they float away.

24. Activities Freeze dance Hey mr. knickerbocker Hey Mr. Knickerbocker, boppity, bop! Pat your hands flat on the floor once, clap, then repeat I like the way you boppity, bop! Continue alternately patting and clapping to establish a beat Listen to the sound we make with our hands. Rub palms to make a chafing sound Listen to the sound we make with our knees. Tap fingers softly on knees to the beat Listen to the sound we make with our teeth. Click teeth together • Play a CD and put a friend in charge of the volume control while you take your young dancer for a twirl. • Hold your toddler in your arms. • When the music starts, exaggerate your dance moves by swaying from side to side and “dipping” her on occasion. • When the music stops, hold your stance; begin dancing when the music starts again, then “freeze” each time it halts.

25. activities Paper bag blocks Size Wise You can use measuring spoons, mixing bowls, or cardboard boxes of different sizes. Some toddlers do not yet have the manual dexterity to get the objects to nest or to pull them apart again. Introduce this activity with only two or three nesting cups that vary dramatically in size. Demonstrate how the items fit within each other. Gradually add to the number of nesting objects once she has mastered fitting the first few cups or bowls together. • To make large blocks, fill a paper grocery bag to the brim with crumpled newspaper. Fold and tape the sides of the open end as if you were wrapping a present. • To make smaller blocks, thoroughly rinse and dry juice cartons. Open the tops and vertically cut through the corner creases to create flaps. Tape the flaps shut and cover the cartons with construction paper or even contact paper. • Encourage the child to stack the blocks as high as he can. Show him how to stack the small blocks on top of the big blocks to build a toddler-size tower. When it’s time to disassemble the stack, take turns removing one block at a time, and count the blocks out loud as you remove them.

26. Count with me Five Little raindrops The caterpillar One little caterpillar crawled on my shoe Along came another and then there were two. Two little caterpillars crawled on my knee. Along came another and then there were three. Three little caterpillars crawled on the floor. Along came another and then there were four. Four little caterpillars all crawled away. They will all turn into butterflies one fine day! • Five little raindrops falling from a cloud, • The first one said, “My, the thunder’s loud.” • The second one said, “It’s so cold tonight.” • The third one said “Oh, the lightning’s so bright.” • The fourth one said “Listen to the wind blow.” • The fifth one said, “Look, I’m turning into snow” and turned all the earth to a frosty, snowy white.

27. activities Baby basketball Tube tricks Start with a wide plastic or cardboard tube and a supply of tennis, racquet, or other soft balls Put the balls in one end of the tube, tilt the tube so they roll down inside it, and have her retrieve them from the other end. Repeat and switch places. Increase the complexity by using balls of different sizes. • Gather a few medium-size balls and place them in a large container. • Show the child how to empty the balls onto the floor, then demonstrate how to drop the balls one by one into the basket. • When he’s ready, have him stand back and try throwing the balls into the basket. • Increase the challenged by placing a few containers around the room, then urge the athlete to aim toward a different one each time.

28. activities Head to toes Beanbag bowling Stack several tall, lightweight plastic bottles, cups, or empty cans. Show child how to throw a beanbag to knock them down. Vary the activity by using different-size balls. Also try seating your child at varying distances from the stack. Once the baby bowler improves his game, ask him to toss the beanbags while standing. • Sing “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” to the child and place both hands on your body parts as you call out the name of each part. • Keep singing the song over and over, increasing the tempo each time. • This song emphasizes patterning and spatial awareness.

29. activities Footstep fun Magic cups To start the game, hide a small toy under one of three cups while your child is watching. Then move the cups around and ask her to guess which one conceals the toy. • Trace the outline of the sole of the child’s shoes onto colored pieces of paper. • Cut out the foot shapes and glue them onto cardboard squares. • Place the squares on the floor to form a path, then encourage the trailblazer to place his feet inside each of the silhouettes.

30. Activities If the shoe fits… Color clusters To start, thread a thin rope through a group of colored balls with holes and tie the rope firmly between two chairs. Show the toddler how to spin the balls and slide them from one end of the rope to the other. Then ask him to spin only a particular color or only the large balls. • Put two or three shoes on a table, separating each shoe from its mate. • Choose shoes of distinct sizes and types. • Ask the child which shoes match. • As he searches for the mate, talk about the types of shoes, whom they fit, and what they’re used for.

31. activities Water targets Hey Mr. jumping jack Hey Mr. Jumping Jack, A funny old man, He jumps and he jumps Whenever he can. He jumps way up high, He jumps way down low, And he jumps and he jumps wherever he goes. Hey Mr. Jumping Jack, A funny old man, He wiggles and wiggles whenever he can. He wiggles way up high, He wiggles way down low, And he wiggles and he wiggles Wherever he goes • Find two or three plastic bowls or pots and fill them halfway with water. • Gather an assortment of small balls, preferably ones that float. • Ask the child to throw the balls into the water targets. • Count how many balls she can land inside each bowl. • As the child gets better at this activity, increase the challenge by having her stand farther away from the water-filled bowls.

32. Activities Up it goes Paper puzzle Find an engaging, colorful picture of something your toddler might like. Glue the image onto a letter-size piece of paper or cardboard. Cut the picture into 4 sections. Now help him rearrange the pieces to put he picture back together again. When he’s figured that out, you can make the puzzle more difficult by cutting it into smaller pieces. • To play this, you and the toddler hold opposite ends of a blanket or mini parachute. • Place a beach ball in the center and toss it up in the air, trying to catch it in the parachute as it comes down again. • Start with gentle tosses so the ball doesn’t go too high. • As your toddler’s coordination improves, bounce the ball higher and higher.

33. Activities On Target! Car capers Find paper that matches the color of the cars in his toy collection. Call out the color of each paper as you lay it on the floor. Park a car of the same color on each piece of paper. Then mix them up and ask your child to “drive” the vehicles onto their correct, color-coded parking spots. • Use a large piece of construction paper or a colored paper plate as a target, and adhere it to the ground with strong packaging tape so it won’t slip when she lands. • Encourage the child to jump directly onto the target. • As the toddler’s skills increase, make the target smaller.

34. activities Shape sorter Leaf lineup Gather small, medium and large leaves. Tape one example of each size onto the sides of paper bags or small boxes. Place the rest of the leaves in a pile. Ask the child to sort the leaves into the correct bag or box according to size. • Collect an assortment of small balls and square-shaped blocks and mix them up in a pile. • Put out a large bowl and a big box. • Ask the child to place all of the round balls in the round bowl and the blocks in the box.

35. Wrap up

36. Math in children’s literature Numbers, number systems,& number relationships Computation & Estimation The Right Number of Elephants Jeff Shepherd One Cow Moo Moo David Bennett How Many Bugs in a Box? David Carter • Ten Black Dots • Donald Crew • Mouse Count • Ellen Stoll Walsh • Five Little Monkeys Sitting in the Tree • Eileen Christelow Mathematical Reasoning & Connections Measurement & Estimation • The Grouchy Ladybug • Eric Carle • Inch by Inch • Leo Lionni • How High is Pepperoni? • The Editors of Planet Dexter • 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed • Eileen Christelow • One Duck Stuck, A Mucky Duck Counting Book • Phyllis Root • How Many Feet in the Bed? • Diane Hamm

37. Math in children’s literature Mathematical problem solving & communication Statistics & data analysis Just Look TanaHoban Circus Lois Ehlert My Very First Book of Shapes Eric Carle • Caps for Sale • EsphyrSlobodkina • Stay in Line • TessySlater • M&M Color Pattern Book • Barbara McGrath • Shoes • Elizabeth Winthrop • Sorting • Henry Pluckrose • The Very Hungry Caterpillar • Eric Carle geometry

38. Math songs & Rhymes • Measuring Measure your hand, and then measure your nose. Measure your feet and then measure your toes. Measure your head, then your ears, and your chin. You’re smiling! You’re happy! Let’s measure your grin! • Feet and Hands Two little feet go jump, jump, jump. Two little hands go thump, thump, thump. One little body turns round and round. One little child sits quietly down. Two little feet go tap, tap, tap. Two little hands go clap, clap, clap. A quick little leap up in the air. Everyone is ready. Please wait right here. • Song of 3 (Farmer in the Dell) I love to count to three. I love to count to three. I start with one. My work is done. When I say one, two, three. • Five Little Seashells Five little seashells lying on the shore. Swish went the waves and then there were four. Four little seashells, pretty as can be. Swish went the waves and then there were three. Three little seashells, all pearly new. Swish went the waves and then there were two. Two little seashells, lying in the sun. Swish went the waves and then there was one. One little seashell, lying all alone. I picked it up and took it home.

39. Math songs & rhymes • I Have a Shape (Skip to My Lou) I have a square shape. How about you? I have a square shape. How about you? I have a square shape. How about you? Hold up your square like I do! • Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men Couldn’t put Humpty together again. • Five Little Pigs This little pig went to market. This little pig stayed home. This little pig had roast beef. This little pig had none. This little pig cried “Wee, wee, wee” all the way home.