Counting to 1000

Strand: Number
Outcome: 1

Step 5: Follow-up on Assessment

Guiding Questions

What conclusions can be made from assessment information?
How effective have instructional approaches been?
What are the next steps in instruction?

A. Addressing Gaps in Learning

Students who have difficulty with the number sequence and skip counting need many opportunities to count objects for a purpose. They need to understand that skip counting can be a more efficient way to arrive at the same total compared to counting by 1s. Teachers should also create counting experiences that extend a student's understanding.

For example:

Use a metre stick and a base-10 rod to show counting by 10 from random starting points. First, establish that the student understands that each time the rod is moved it is the same as adding 10 more. Start at any 1-digit number and then add the length of the rod. Move it another 10 centimetres, and so on, noting the numbers. Ask students if they notice a pattern. Then, ask if they think the pattern would work for other numbers. Check this out.
Create situations where students are required to count up by 5s or 10s from random starting points. Place three pennies in front of the students. Add a dime. Ask how much money there is in total. Continue adding dimes and asking for the total. Use the same task with a different number of pennies and nickels. The goal is for students to see a pattern.
Create a skip-counting pattern using unit cubes and 10 bars along a surface. Cover all the materials. Uncover a group at a time and ask for the total in each group as it is uncovered. For example, students might be expected to recite 8, 13, 18, 23, 28, 33, 38 and 43 in response to materials being successively uncovered.
Have students prepare everyday materials, such as craft materials or photocopying, to be handed out in 3s and 4s to the whole class, and ask them to count these materials before and as they hand them out.
Have students make up problems that involve base-10 packaging or grouping; e.g., problems about items for sale, visual patterns, beads on necklaces.

B. Reinforcing and Extending Learning

Students who have achieved or exceeded the outcomes will benefit from ongoing opportunities to apply and extend their learning. These activities should support students in developing a deeper understanding of the concept and should not progress to the outcomes in subsequent grades. Consider strategies, such as:

encourage students to skip count from random starting points for the numbers 3 and 4, as well as other numbers not covered in this outcome, and to look for patterns
encourage students to look for patterns in strings of numbers, including sequences that are not traditional skip-counting sequences, such as the Fibonacci sequence, successive powers of two, successive doubles, and successive squares of numbers
encourage students to look for relationships between two different strings of numbers, and to describe those relationships using mathematical language and symbols
encourage students to use T-tables to investigate patterns and relationships.
Download Activity: Traffic Lights for Counting to 1000