Lesson 17

The purpose of this How Many Do You See is for students to recognize and name small groups and describe how they see them.

• Groups of 2
• “This time I am going to show you a group of connecting cubes very quickly. Be ready to see how many connecting cubes there are.”
• Flash the first image.
• “How many do you see? How do you see them?”

• Flash the image again.
• “Use your fingers to show your partner how many cubes you see.”
• 30 seconds: partner work time
• “Tell your partner how many cubes you see and how you see them.”
• 1 minute: partner discussion
• Repeat for each image. 

• Display the second and third images.
• “What is the same about these groups of connecting cubes? What is different?” (They both have 4. One cube moved from the top row to the bottom row.)
• Display or write “4.”
• “There are 4 connecting cubes in this group. There are also 4 connecting cubes in this group.” 

The purpose of this activity is for students to count their collection in a way that makes sense to them and to answer “how many” questions without recounting the collection. Most students should be given collections with 6–10 connecting cubes. Based on formative assessment data collected in previous sections, adjust the number for individual students. Students are provided with counting mats and 5-frames to help them accurately count or organize their collections. Students use appropriate tools strategically as they choose which tools help them count their collections (MP5).

• Groups of 2
• Give each student a bag of 6–10 cubes.
• Give access to 5-frames and counting mats to each group.

• “Figure out how many cubes are in your collection. Show how you counted your collection. Show your thinking using objects, drawings, numbers, or words.”
• 2 minutes: independent work time
• “How many cubes are in your collection? Tell your partner how many cubes are in your collection without counting them again.”
• 2 minutes: partner discussion

• Invite a few students to demonstrate how they counted their connecting cubes.
• After each student shares: “How many cubes are in _____’s collection? How do you know?” (There are _____ cubes. I know because that’s the last number they said.)
• If needed, say “When we counted, the last number we said was _____. That tells us that there are _____ objects in our collection.”

The purpose of this activity is for students to create and share what they build with their connecting cubes and to share how many connecting cubes they have without recounting the collection.

• Groups of 4.
• Give students access to 5-frames and counting mats.  

• “Use all of your connecting cubes to create whatever you’d like.”
• 2 minutes: independent work time
• “Tell your group what you made and how many cubes you used without counting them again.”
• 4 minutes: small-group discussion

• Invite at least 2 students to share what they built with connecting cubes.
• “Tell your partner what is the same about what _____ and _____ made.”