Lesson 7

Sort Math Tools

Lesson Purpose

The purpose of this lesson is for students to sort objects into categories and tell how many objects are in each category.

Lesson Narrative

In kindergarten, students sorted objects into given categories. In this lesson, students choose categories to sort tools they have used in previous lessons (pattern blocks, two-color counters, and inch tiles). Students explain how they sorted and how many are in each category.

Although math tools are suggested, any objects may be used that students can sort into two or more categories.

In Activity 3, students choose from center activities introduced in previous lessons, to practice counting up to 20 objects or adding and subtraction within 10.

  • Action and Expression

Learning Goals

Teacher Facing

  • Describe (orally) the categories chosen for sorting math tools and tell how many in each category.
  • Sort math tools into categories in a way that makes sense to them.

Student Facing

  • Let’s sort objects and describe how many.

Required Materials

Materials to Gather

Materials to Copy

  • Two-Column Table
  • Three-Column Table

Required Preparation

Activity 1:

  • Each group of 2 needs a bag of math tools (with a small handful of inch tiles, pattern blocks, and two-color counters).

Activity 2:

  • The math tool sorts from the previous activity are needed for this gallery walk.

Activity 3:

  • Gather materials from previous centers:
    • Counting Collections, Stage 1
    • Number Race, Stage 3
    • Check it Off, Stages 1 and 2
    • Five in a Row: Addition and Subtraction, Stages 1 and 2
    • Find the Pair, Stage 2

CCSS Standards

Building On

Addressing

Building Towards

Lesson Timeline

Warm-up 10 min
Activity 1 10 min
Activity 2 15 min
Activity 3 15 min
Lesson Synthesis 10 min
Cool-down 0 min

Teacher Reflection Questions

In kindergarten, students compared two- and three-dimensional shapes and used informal language to describe how they were alike and different. What informal language did students use to describe shapes today? How did the Collect and Display routine help students develop more language to describe objects?

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