Recognizing to 10 on bead strings

General

Students are introduced to bead strings and can recognize numbers to 10 using bead strings.

Common core standard(s)

K.CC.B./5
K.CC.B.5

Relevance

Discuss with students that by recognizing numbers on the bead strings they are able to calculate faster. They don't need to count every bead but can count from 5 because 5 are red.

Introduction

Show the different numbers on the interactive whiteboard. Point to a number and ask if they know which number it is. Review all the numbers. Next say a number and ask the students to write down the number. Have the students hold up their answers to check for understanding.

Development

Explain to students what bead strings look like. Show that the bead strings have five red and five white beads. Using the bead strings, show how to discover which number the question mark indicates. Demonstrate that the question mark is more than the five red beads. Count the red and white beads together. After ask the students if they know which numbers the question mark indicate. They can choose from a number of options. The next step is for students to write down which number the question marks indicate without any options to choose from.

Check that students can recognize numbers to 10 on the counting beads by asking the following questions:
What do bead strings look like?
How do you know which number the question mark indicates on the bead strings?

Guided Practice

Students first practice with exercises which have two or three possible answers. After this, students practice with exercises where they must individually come up with an answer.

Closing

Check that students know that bead strings have five red and five white beads. Emphasize that it is useful to recognize numbers on the bead strings so you can calculate faster. As a final exercise, a few students come up to the board and show a number on the bead strings. The class must say what the number is, and the student must explain how they came to this answer. Remind students to not count the beads one by one.

Teaching Tip

Students who have difficulties recognizing numbers on the bead strings will likely also have difficulty counting to 10. Ask these students to practice counting the beads one by one.