3
Seeing how many without counting
Learner’s Book 1: Unit 1, pp. 15–16
GoalSay how many dots there are in small patterns (dice, dominoes, ten frames) without counting one by one.
New words
pattern · things arranged in a way we can seedice · a cube with 1 to 6 dots on its facesmatch · find the ones that go together
Explanation
Some amounts we can see at once, without counting. On a dice, 5 dots look like a square with one dot in the middle. 3 dots are often in a line. When you know these patterns you can say the number very fast. You can also see a big number as two small ones: 6 dots can be 3 and 3. A ten frame helps too: a full row is always 5.
Worked examples
Which half of this domino has 4 spots? Look for the square pattern: 2 spots on top, 2 below. The top half has 4.
6 spots in two rows of 3: you can see 3 and 3, which makes 6, without counting each spot.
A ten frame with a full top row and 4 more is 9: 5 and 4 make 9.
Class activity
Quick look game: your partner shows a dice or domino for just one second, then hides it. Say how many dots you saw. Take turns. Which patterns are easiest?
Practice
1
How many dots are on this dice?
5
2
How many dots are on this dice?
6
3
How many spots are on this domino altogether?
5 (2 and 3)
4
A ten frame shows a full top row and a full bottom row. How many?
10