But before game time, I thought I would share some tips and tricks with you! Today's topic:
I know this seems to be one of the simplest Kindergarten standards--to be able to count verbally by 1's and 10's to 100. I say seems to be because in my years I have found that many students really struggle with it. So I am here to share some tips and tricks I have implemented along the way!
One of the reasons I find this hard to teach (and learn) is because there are only so many times you can sit and rote count to 100 with a 5-6 year old right?? BORING. I know if I am bored then they are definitely over it.
So here are a few free and easy and even FUN tricks I have learned along the way!
#1: For the strugglers, the trickiest part for them is always the next '10'. They get to 29 and say 'uhhhh....' I prompt them with 30 and they fly all the way to 39, then another 'uhhhhh'.....and so on. So one thing I have started doing when we count is holding up a finger for what decade we are on. So as we count up to 10 I have zero fingers up. When we get to 10-20, I have 1 finger up, when we get to the 20's I have 2 fingers up, 30's I have 3 fingers up and so on. This helps when they get stuck at the next decade. For example, when they get stuck at 39, they see me put a 4th finger up prompting them to know the '40's' come next. This also helps when writing numbers--however many fingers I have up is what the number starts with--20's start with a 2, 30's start with a 3, and so on. I have found this really helps!
#2: We also count every day during our morning calendar time so to make it a bit more fun I started using the chant cards we use when we practice sight words. Each card has a silly way/voice to count in. Each day we pick a card and practice counting in that silly way. The kids LOVE it making them actively engaged! Their favorite is probably the Volcano--for this one, we start really quiet (whisper) and get louder with each number until we reach a '10'. So we whisper '1, 2, a little louder for 3, 4, 5, regular voice for 6, 7, loud voice for 8, 9, and explode (YELL) for 10! Then we start back at a whisper for 11, 12, and repeat the same pattern. These are a part of my sight word sets (so they say to 'say and spell' on them) but like I said we use them for counting too! Click here to download for free!
#3: Another thing we play is what we call the '100's Game'. I honestly can't remember where I got this from or if I made it up or what.....but I do know the kids enjoy playing it! They ask to play all the time. It's very simple: Just have your students stand in a circle. Choose one to start and they number off. First students says 1, next says 2, next says 3, etc. Anyone who gets a '10' sits down. Last person standing is the winner! If we get to 100, I just start back over at 1 and we count until we have a winner. You can also do this having them skip count by 10's! So simple and fun! *You could even make this harder for older grades...counting by 2's, 5's, etc.
And now that you know a few of my tips and tricks, let's move on to how I motivate the students to WANT to be able to count to 100! I introduce to you......The 100's Club!
Again--so simple! (Are you seeing a pattern in my teaching style here?? Simple+Fun=Win!)
All I do is post the 'Miss Murphy's 100's Club Sign'. (Mine is on our classroom door.) When students can count to 100, I post their picture with a speech bubble next to it.
They want SO badly to be on the door! I catch them asking their friends that are already in the 'club' to help them practice during recess or early finisher time and I have parents telling me their student wanted to practice at home so they could make it in the 'club'!
If you want to implement the 100's Club in your room just click on the picture above! It will open in PowerPoint and you will just need to add a text box for your name. To make it easy, when I take my first day of school pictures of my students I print an extra copy and keep in a baggie for this, along with the speech bubbles that I have printed on colored paper. This way, when a student makes it into the 100's Club, I can just grab their picture and a speech bubble and tape it on our door.
I hope these ideas help you and your students have fun while learning!
Now off to watch some football and enjoy some delicious snacks!!
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