I. Preparing:

· Materials:

Alabama Course of Study: Mathematics, page 17, number 11, children’s literature: Jack and the Beanstalk, bowl of jelly beans, paper, scissors, glue, paper beans, markers, tally chart, jar of candy

· Objectives: The students will:

o (Comprehension) distinguish between an over-estimate and an under-estimate.

o (Synthesis) identify various groups of objects in the classroom that could be estimated.

o (Application) estimate how many beans can be held in a hand.

o (Application) demonstrate how to organize data by writing down their estimations and actual findings.

· Grade Level: first

II. Orienting:

a. Anticipatory Set: The teacher will read the book Jack and the Beanstalk. The teacher will remind the students that Jack only received five beans for his cow. The teacher will then ask, “How many beans do you think Jack would have received if he had gotten a whole handful instead of just a few?”

b. Purpose: The teacher will say, “The purpose of this lesson is for you to be able to look at a group of objects and be able to judge the approximate number. For example, if you bring candy in for the class, but don’t know the exact number of students we have, you will be able to judge about how much candy you will need.”

c. Connection to previous learning/Build background knowledge: “I know all of you can count, but today we’re going to look at judging the number of something, without having to actually count.”

III. Presenting:

· Teaching Procedures: The teacher will:

o define “estimate.” The teacher will say, “An estimate is a rough approximation.” To clarify, the teacher will demonstrate, using jellybeans, what an estimate is.

o explain the difference between a guess and an estimation. The teacher will say, “A guess is forming an opinion with little or no evidence.”

o demonstrate the difference between a guess and an estimation using jellybeans.

o explain that an over-estimate is estimating too high and an under-estimate is estimating too low.

o have the children repeat, “Over is too much, under is too little.”

o demonstrate what an over-estimate and an under-estimate would be using the beans.

IV. Practicing and Summarizing:

· Review: The teacher will:

o (Comprehension) call on volunteers to explain what an estimate is.

o (Analysis) call on volunteers to explain the difference between an estimate and a guess.

o (Comprehension) ask students to identify various groups of objects in the classroom that we could estimate.

o (Application) ask for volunteers to estimate how many jellybeans are being held in the teacher’s hand.

o (Comprehension) then ask students what an over-estimate and under-estimate would be for the beans being displayed.

· Guided Practice:

o The teacher will ask the students, “Think about how many jelly beans you think you can hold in one hand.” The students then share their estimate with the class.

o Students will trace one hand onto paper, cut it out, and write their estimation on the thumb. The teacher will model the procedure. (Or, copy and distribute this picture.)

o Students will place the jellybeans into their hands, to see how many they can hold. The students will get into pairs and check the number of jellybeans the other child held.

o The students will cut out a small paper bean and write the actual number held onto the paper bean, then glue it to the paper palm.

o The teacher will create a large chart, which displays children’s estimations and actual findings. The children will then arrange their hands on a class graph.

o Students will then identify the smallest number of beans held, and place the hand into the first column of the chart.

o Students will then discuss possible ways to arrange the hands into columns. Once the students agree on how many numbers are assigned to a column, they will tape the hands onto the chart.

o Children will record their estimation and actual findings into their math journals.

· Independent Practice:

o Students will trace their hands again, this time keeping their fingers together. In pairs, students will discuss the outcome of the second activity and compare their findings with the first activity.

o Students will record their findings from the second activity into their math journals.

o The teacher will have a jar of candy. Students will be asked to estimate the number of candies in the jar.

· Summarizing:

o The teacher will say, “Today we learned how to estimate, which is a rough approximation. You can now look at a group of something and be able to estimate the quantity. Tonight I want you to estimate something in your house (i.e. toys in the bathtub, cans of food in the cabinet, etc.). You will write those estimates in your math journal.”

V. Assessment:

The teacher will monitor the students’ participation during the activity. In addition, the teacher will read the findings recorded in each student’s journal. For enrichment, students will discuss why everyone’s hand did not fit into the larger hands-more beans, smaller hands-less beans theory. Those students will discuss possible reasons this occurs. For remediation, students will estimate the number of beans their fellow students can hold.

Also, see the Counting PowerPoint Slide Shows at:

http://www.athens.edu/pt3/vinson/counting.ppt

http://www.athens.edu/pt3/vinson/triangles.ppt