This mathematics activity uses bear counters to have children construct and change sets of bears using the numbers 0-3. The children put the bears to bed and remove them as instructed by the teacher. This simple problem solving activity corresponds to the story of Goldilocks and the three bears and the lesson leaves the choice of whether to read the story before or after using the bears to count.
Information about assessment for this lesson is included, as well as some pre-activity warm up, enrichment, and literature ideas. Using this game as a part of a purposefully planned and coordinated set of activities would be a wonderful way to expose children to the joys of early mathematics. (author/nmb)
Number, Number Sense and Operations for Early Childhood
Number and Number Sense
2.
Touch objects and say the number names when counting in the context of daily activities and play (e.g., cookies on a plate, steps on a set of stairs).
3.
Demonstrate one-to-one correspondence when counting objects (e.g., give one cookie to each child in group).
4.
Determine "how many" in sets of 5 or fewer objects.
7.
Group and regroup a given set in the context of daily activities and play (e.g., 5 blocks can be 2 blue and 3 green or 1 blue and 4 green).
Meaning of Operations
13.
Construct sets with more or fewer objects than a given set.
14.
Count on (forward) using objects such as cards, number cubes or dominoes that have familiar dot patterns (e.g., when selecting 5 apples from a bag, takes out two and continues counting 3, 4, 5).
15.
Join two sets of objects to make one large set in the context of daily routines and play (e.g., combining 2 bags of raisins, each containing 3 pieces; combining 2 groups of blocks, each containing 3 blocks).
Mathematical Processes for Young Children