The Doorbell Rang

The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins

Our Focus: Counting and One to One Correspondence

Our "doorbell" and cookies for the story

 Today when the boys arrived we gave them plenty of time to greet one another and play together downstairs in the playroom before coming to the classroom. This also gave me a chance to explain all of our Learning Stations to the moms so they knew what to do at each station. Originally, there were 6 stations because we normally have 6 Knee High Readers. But because of illnesses, today we only had four. (We missed you guys!) 

After the kids had time to say their hello's and drive their trucks, trains, cars and all things that roll...they were ready to learn!

                        

Our Stations

1- Find and Sort

Supplies:

-1 plastic bin filled with rice

-Melissa and Doug Stack and Sort (I found mine at a Kids Consignment Sale for $1.00)

You could also be creative and use other things! I really like the Melissa and Doug Stack and Sort because it is a great tool to show what the actual number looks like. 1 is one object, 2 is two objects and so on.

The moms took the shapes and buried them in the rice. The kids' were to find the objects, sort them by shape/color and count.

2. Pile Of Beans & Bug Jar

Supplies:

-Any kind of beans

-Ice Cube Tray

-Color Coding Label Stickers (from Walmart, Target, etc.)

The Bug Jar is an old "Center" Activity from my classroom that was made from a classroom centers workbook.

 The kids were to try to match the number of beans with the number on the sticker. The above picture shows an example. 1= 1 bean, 2=2 beans and so on. This was hard for three year olds.

2. Roll and Build & Number Puzzle 

Supplies:

-pattern blocks

-number puzzle

-a large die

The kids were to roll the die, count the dots and then build with that number. One of the kids had a great idea to cover the dots so they knew exactly how many pieces to use! Great one to one correspondence! Meaning, most three year olds can count great out loud! But, when we actually put something tangible in front of them and ask them to count the items (and touch them as they go) what you will usually see is they will go one, two, three, six, ten and lose count. Teaching one to one correspondence is a hard skill. Some children don't fully understand or grasp the concept until 1st grade. This is a terrific skill to work on at an early age. 

4. Number Sort 

Supplies:

-Unifix Cubes (many other things would work just fine)

-Number Cards (I used Baby Einstein Numbers and Shapes)

Again, working on one to one correspondence by counting and placing an unifix cube on each dot.

                                              In this picture you can see how the cubes were used.

 Learning to count is so much fun when you are with your friends!

 "Ding Dong!" The doorbell rang,  it's time to count and eat chocolate chip cookies!! Thanks, C, for bringing such a special snack for all of us!