Annotated Bib - Counting

Number sense is vital for children to learn in order to build their understanding of other mathematics concepts. Number sense refers to recognizing, representing, and writing numbers. It also refers to classifying, counting, relationships among numbers, and numeration of numbers. The following books focus on teaching counting to the kindergarten level.

Books
Anno's Counting Book By Mitsumasa Anno. Illus. by Mitsumasa Anno. 1986. 32p. HarperCollins, (9780064431231). Gr. K.
This is a wordless, picture book that teaches counting through beautiful watercolors. The book depicts a town through the course of a year and the objects in each scene are to be counted by the reader.

How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten? By Jane Yolen. Illus. by Mark Teague. 2004. 12p. Blue Sky Press. (9780439649490). Gr. K.
This book teaches counting from numbers 1 to 10. The author uses rhyming, humorous text to show how dinosaurs count to ten. The dinosaurs count over and over again in different ways, using repetition as a great teaching tool.

One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab By April Pulley Sayre and Jeff Sayre. Illus. by Randy Cecil. 2006. 40p. Candlewick Press, (9780763626310). Gr. K-2. This creative book teaches counting and offers practice through many living things and their feet! One is a snail, two is a human, and it goes on until 100. There are dogs, insects, and so many more lively creatures incorporated into the story.

Ten Apples Up On Top! By Dr. Seuss. Illus. by Roy McKie. 1961. 72p. Beginner Books, (9780394800196). Gr. K. This is a wonderful book written using only 75 vocabulary words, that teaches young children to count and read simultaneously. The story is about a number of animals trying to carry ten apples on their head and the crashes involved in this challenge. The book is written in rhyme which adds even more fun to the experience and can help with the readers remember the story and lessons.

Ten Black Dots By Jane Donald Crews. Illus. by Donald Crews. 1986. 32p. Greenwillow Books, (9780688060671). Gr. K. This book was previously published in 1968, and republished with some added changes that makes the book a bit more appealing. The book uses simple rhymes and everyday objects to teach counting for beginners.

Websites
7 Ways to Teach Counting
This resource provides 7 ways to teach counting to ESL students. There are seven activities listed that may seem familiar, but are effective and creative ways for English language learners to become familiar with counting and relate it to everyday life. These lessons can also be applied to all learners.
Have Fun Teaching
This website provides a bank of songs and chants teachers can use to present teaching numbers and counting to kids. This is a great tool to help the lesson of counting fun and provide easy ways for students to remember their counting and number facts. There is a song for counting by many different numbers for different levels (i.e. - counting by two's and counting by twenties and many in between).
Kindergarten Lessons
This site is dedicated to teaching kindergarten. The site provides resources on other subjects, but dedicates an entire one to teaching math. The site provides information on how to teach what, manipulatives, vocabulary, and much more. This site goes directly to the number sense lesson.

Learning Games - Number Sense
This website offers many interactive as well as printable games to help children learn. This particular link is directly to the page that focuses on teaching and learning number sense. There are many categories such as games, songs, and videos. This is a great tool to use in your classroom to have kids learn and practice number sense. It can also be suggested to parents to utilize outside of school as reinforcement.
Smart First Graders - Number Sense
This website was created by a coordinator of after school programs who saw a need. She saw a need of students who just did not "get it" at the end of the day. They needed more help and time and the parents and teachers wanted to give that to them, but weren't always able to or did not know how. That is when she created this site. It has a great deal of information, activities, and lessons that include everything a first grader should know in a fun, creative approach. This can be helpful for many teachers as it includes a wide variety of subjects and information that can be used in other grades. The link is directly to the number sense portion of the site.

For Teachers
Virginia Standard of Learning

K.2 The student, given a set containing 15 or fewer concrete objects, will

a) tell how many are in the set by counting the number of objects

b) write the numeral to tell how many are in the set; and

c) select the corresponding numeral from a given set of numerals

Background Information from Curriculum Framework

• Counting involves two seperate skills, verbalizing the list of standard number words in order ("one, two, three,...") and connecting the sequence with the objects in the set being counted, using one-to-one correspondence.
• Association of number words with collectings of objects is achieved by moving, touching, or pointing to objects as the number words are spoken.
• Objects may be presented in random order or arranged for easy counting.
• Kinesthetic involvement (e.g., tracing the numbers, using tactile materials, such as sand, sandpaper, carpeting, or finger paint) facilitates the writing of numerals.
• Articulating the characteristics of each numeral when writing numbers has been found to reduce the amount of time it takes to learn to write numerals.
• Zero (0) is both a number and a digit. As a number, zero plays a central role in mathematics as the additive identity of the integers, real numbers, and many other algebraic structures. As a digit, zero is used as a placeholder in systems.
• Conservation of number and cardinality principle are two important milestones in development to attaching meaning to counting.
• The cardinality principle refers to the concept that the last counted number describes the total amount of the counted set. It is an extension of one-to-one correspondence.