Counting On when you only have a Minute

As a teacher I have found 2 things to be true ~

a) There’s not enough time in the school day for all children to grasp every learning concept.

b) There’s always wasted minutes in the school day where you feel you should be teaching something but there’s literally only 2 minutes. It wouldn’t matter except that those lost 2 minutes add up by the end of the day.

Solution?

Finding quick and easy resources, word games, exit and entry tickets or tasks that focus on learning areas that improve with consistent, quick revision.

Counting On in a hurry

Gaining confidence with numbers is an essential early learning skill that happens over time. Kids need exposure to a wide variety of activities in order to truly understand what numbers mean and how they work together. While in homes and classrooms extended periods of time are given over to mathematical development there is nothing wrong with supplementing those experiences with brief spurts of focused attention. For some children, these short episodes may actually work well for them because it’s easier to focus and it’s not like ‘real work’ because it’s so short.

Counting On is the ability to be given any number and to quickly know the numbers directly after it. For example, if I say “25” to a late Kindergartener they need to be able to say “26, 27, 28” without having to think too hard. In a previous post, How to Use Board Games to Maximise Math Skills, I reviewed research that showed how to double student learning by tweaking board games. I believe another way to increase learning is to grab those ‘lost’ minutes and utilise them as effectively as possible.

To help with this I created these games that are super quick and low pressure (for both teachers and students). Click on the link to download your free copy of Spin and Count On. They can be printed and used as is, or laminated for longevity. You’ll need a pencil and paper clip for each page to use as a spinner, or attach a brad to each game if you have them. Since it’s just a spin and speak activity it’s very fast and 2 minutes is plenty of time for pairs of students to have a few turns each!

Also, since the numbers are in groups of 10 it’s easy to differentiate, starting with the lower numbers first.

I hope you can make use of these activities and wish you happy teaching and learning.

What 2 minute activities do you do with your kids?