Number Sense with Hamburgers

Pre School Foundation or Common Core Standard to be addressed:

1.4: Count up to five objects using one-to-one correspondence (one object for
each number word) with increasing accuracy.
2.1: Compare visually (with or without counting) two groups of objects that are
obviously equal or non-equal and communicate, more or same.

Title of Lesson: Number Sense with Hamburgers

Background Information: This lesson would be best in a one-to-one or center based,

small group style setting. Children need direct attention to focus budding counting skills
and distraction from other students would be difficult to navigate for some.

Objective: Children will further develop their sense of small groups of numbers and
their relativity to each other. Children will develop their sense of more and less. Children
will be more comfortable with the progression of numbers from 1-10.

Materials:
Small, multicolored objects such as fruit loops, or plastic hamburgers.
Paper
Pencils or Pens for drawing squares
Book Alfie the Alligator by Sandy Turley

Procedure:

Review Children need to have patience to sit for 2-3 minutes while hamburgers
are being separated. Children should understand with some level of reasoning the
concept of 1, 2, 3.

Overview Start by reading the story of Alfie the Alligator and tell the students
that after their lesson they will be just like Alfie and able to help their friends find big and
little numbers any time they want.

Presentation
1. Read Alfie the Alligator as a story time beginning to the lesson
2. Have students gather in a small group to help separate hamburgers by their
colors.
3. Have students place the hamburgers in their associated color square.
4. Have students count each square to determine the number of hamburgers.
5. Have students compare with square has the most, and which square has the
least.

Discussion Questions: What does knowing numbers help with in your life? How many
hamburgers can you eat in one sitting? What happens if you make a mistake when
counting numbers? How can you tell big numbers from small numbers? Who should you
ask if you are feeling confused about numbers in the future?

Evidence of Learning:
Students will show evidence of learning by being able to count numbers higher
than previously able to. Students will recognize that groups of numbers have different
values based on the objects in the group with increasing reliability.

Next Steps:
Pass: Expand on the lesson and have students take away hamburgers in
different combinations and determine which groups are now the smallest and the
largest, and count them.
Did not Pass: Have students try the lesson with less colors to choose from and
large differences between the colors. Make the lesson less complex but still use the
same basic principles of number sense.

Evaluation
My daughter really enjoyed the lesson. It captured her attention and left her
feeling accomplished. Even at the end of the lesson when she was getting her answers
wrong with increasing consistency, she accepted her corrections with an okay instead
of frustration.