One Lonely Frog

“Alright, everybody put your finger on the dragonflies.  Do you see the dragonflies?”

“Yesss”

“Ok, now, look at the frog.  Do you see the frog?”

“Yesss”

“Good.  Ok, the frog is hungry.  He needs a snack.  You need to feed him the right amount of dragonflies. How many dragonflies are there?

They take a moment to count “Four!”

“How do you know there are four?”

“We count them.”

Good, yes, you counted them to find out how many dragonflies there were. Ok.  Now, our frog is full, but he is lonely, he wants some friends.  So put your finger on the small frogs. Let’s look at them and find out how many there are.”

They count again. “Five!”

“Five, right. Ok, put five counters underneath the frogs. Why are we putting five counters there?”

“Because the frog is lonely.” One little boy says.

“Well yes, the frog is lonely.  Why else might we be putting five counters there?

“Because there are five frogs.”

Yes! There are five frogs, so we are putting five counters there.  Then the frog won’t be lonely. Ok, now we are going to look at the numbers on the side. What number is next to the dragonflies?”

“A four!”

“Yes, a four. How do we write a four?”

“Down, across, and down some more.”

“Yes! Good job, you guys are so smart! Ok, go ahead and trace the fours, I am going to make one up here so I remember how to do it.”

After they have finished the fours…

“What number is on the other side?”

“Five!”

Yes, a five. Now, I forget, how do we make a five?”

“Down, curve around, put on a hat.”

“Yes!” You guys are so good at reminding me. Ok, make your fives and I am going to make one up here.  You guys can watch in case I forget how to do it.”

We continue onto the back of the worksheet where they write more 4’s and 5’s. Then, I let them do the last two on their own.

“Ok, make sure you look carefully at the last two! They may be tricky.”

The answers to four and five were 4 and 5.  So what happens next is only to be expected.

I walk around to each table looking at each child’s work. Almost all of them that I look at make the last two answers 6 and 7 (The answers were again 4 and 5). Math can be confusing.  Especially when you are antsy, it is the end of the day, and you are five years old.

Love them.

Please keep in mind that many pauses were taken during this lesson. Also? The occasional behavior problem arose. Also? Children did not answer the questions in unison.