Counting Collections

Counting Collections is a partner activity in which we ask Team Awesome to do the following:

• count to figure out how many are in a "collection" of objects (a set of old keys, teddy bear counters, rocks collected from the yard, arts and crafts materials, etc.)
• make a written representation of what they counted and how they counted it

Similar to other kinds of counting activities, the goal is to engage them in coordinating the various aspects of counting in order to find out how many are in the given set of objects. What might be different about Counting Collections, however, is that they are encouraged to count and represent in ways that make sense to them without an adult doing a demonstration first. As the children count, they might move objects in and out of containers, organize in a line, sort into groups by color, slide from one pile to another, etc. As the children represent, they might trace the objects, make a series of small marks and place the objects on top to make sure they match, write a sequence of numerals, etc. Additionally, "collections" often have more objects than are usually given to young children (such as a collection of 21 colorful dinosaurs) which often encourages them to organize and to count further in the counting sequence. When our counting time is finished, we come together and some of the students present their ideas- telling everyone what they counted, how they counted, how many they had and how they represented their count, thereby teaching the others new ways of thinking about numbers.
The evidence is overwhelming that children benefit from working together. During Counting Collections the learning spaces are full of conversation and problem solving. Partners have lots of negotiating to do as they decide on a collection, choose a place to work, and figure out a strategy. Opportunities to learn to work together are as abundant as opportunities to develop number sense and counting skills during Counting Collections.