Lesson 3
Groups that Look Very Different
Lesson Purpose
Lesson Narrative
Since this is the first activity where students compare the number of objects in groups, the numbers selected allow students to visually determine which groups have more objects and which groups have fewer. Students are introduced to the language “more” and “fewer”, however they are not required to produce this language until a future lesson. As you ask students to compare quantities, vary between using “fewer” and “more”. Because “more” occurs regularly in everyday speech, students may be comfortable with “more” initially, but need many chances to hear “fewer” to describe the number of objects in groups. In this lesson, students can compare groups of objects without counting, but are asked to count to answer “how many” questions. This continues to give students practice counting up to 10 objects and begins working toward counting to compare.
- Engagement
- MLR8
Learning Goals
Teacher Facing
- Compare groups of up to 10 objects.
- Identify and create groups that have more or fewer with very different quantities.
Student Facing
- Let’s figure out if there are more green triangles or more orange squares.
Required Materials
Materials to Gather
- Bags (brown paper)
- Colored pencils, crayons, or markers
- Connecting cubes
- Counters
- Materials from a previous activity
- Materials from previous centers
- Pattern blocks
Materials to Copy
- Number Mat 1-10
- Number Race Stage 1 Recording Sheet for Tracing
Required Preparation
Activity 1:
- Each group of 2 needs a bag with 8 to 10 green triangle pattern blocks and 1 to 3 orange square pattern blocks.
- 6 connecting cubes and 2 pattern blocks needed for display.
- 8 orange square pattern blocks and 2 green triangle pattern blocks needed for display.
Activity 2:
- Each group of 2 needs a bag of green triangle and orange square pattern blocks from the previous activity.
Activity 3:
- Each group of 2 needs 1 connecting cube.
- Gather materials from:
- Shake and Spill, Stage 1
- Math Fingers, Stage 1
- Pattern Blocks, Stages 1-3
- Picture Books, Stages 1 and 2
Lesson Timeline
| Warm-up | 10 min |
| Activity 1 | 10 min |
| Activity 2 | 10 min |
| Activity 3 | 25 min |
| Lesson Synthesis | 5 min |
| Cool-down | 0 min |