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When kindergarten students arrive at the beginning of the year, there is usually a wide range of knowledge when it comes to numbers. Some students have strong number sense and can recognize numbers to ten (and beyond!) while other students are still working on counting by rote to 10. In this post, I wanted to share some tips and resources for teaching numbers 1 to 10. These number sense activities and printables will support all of the learners in your classroom as they learn to count, identify, and write numbers.
I love teaching numbers in kindergarten! It is one of the first things that we do at the beginning of the year. We focus on one number at a time, which helps students build a strong foundation for numbers that will serve them well for the entire school year and for years to come! This pace also helps to make sure that all students are comfortable with the first ten numbers before moving on to other concepts.
Here are some of my favorite activities and resources that I use when teaching numbers 1 to 10 in kindergarten:
At the beginning of the year, many students can recognize a number by its spoken word but do not yet recognize the written numeral or word. Before we move on to other number sense activities, it’s helpful to start by helping students associate the written number with the number word that they hear when counting.
After practicing number formation together as a class, you can have students complete a trace, write, and find worksheet. This will help students practice writing and recognizing the number of the week.
This is another activity that will help students become more familiar with each number’s formation. Students love filling in the number outlines with rainbow coloring, paper scraps, or even mini erasers!
This hands-on and engaging activity gives students the chance to explore the unique shape of each number.
While most kindergarten students start school knowing how to count by rote, many students still need practice with one-to-one correspondence. When teaching numbers 1 to 10, it’s important to find many ways to incorporate counting throughout the school day, including counting worksheets!
This worksheet has students identify the groups of a target number. As students count the objects in each grouping, they are practicing one-to-one correspondence and can also visualize different quantities.
Once students can recognize the number of the week and are comfortable with counting to that number, it’s time for more number sense activities! One way to help students represent a number is by using a ten frame. They will use ten frames as tools for many different math skills throughout the year, so it’s helpful to start using them as soon as possible!
This ten frame worksheet has students add the correct number of objects to the frame and then practice writing the number as well. (You can never have too much writing practice in kindergarten!)
Students will use number lines for a variety of math skills as they get older, so this is another helpful way to represent the number of the week. It can be tricky for students to model numbers on a number line, so I like to practice with a life-size number line on the floor! Students can see first-hand that they count the hops as they move from zero to the correct number.
Understanding number lines will help students when they start to learn about addition and subtraction, so this is an important number sense activity! This worksheet has students use manipulatives to count and model the number of the week on a number line, with more opportunities to practice number formation.
Once students have had a chance to see that numbers can be represented in different ways, such as on ten frames and number lines, it’s time to explore other ways to show numbers. Students can learn how to represent numbers using tally marks, with dominoes and dice, on fingers, and more! This helps students build a foundation for using different math strategies when it’s time to add and subtract.
The worksheet above has students find the correct representations of the focus number, then glue it to the worksheet.
As kindergartners learn more and more about numbers, they are excited to show off what they know!
This fun worksheet allows students to apply everything they’ve learned about the number of the week in one spot. They are always so excited to take these papers home to show their families!
Spreading out the numbers by focusing on one per week is helpful for pacing, but it’s important to still provide opportunities for students to review the numbers they have learned. The two activities picture below let students continue to practice number formation and review other number sense concepts for numbers 1 to 10.
Would you like to use these fun and engaging learning activities with your students? These printable number sense worksheets will help your students build a strong foundation that will help them in math activities throughout the school year and beyond!
Since the learning activities use the same layout for each number of the week, students will benefit from the predictable routine that this resource provides. As they grow more familiar with the format each week, students will be able to get right to work when it’s time for independent practice using these number sense worksheets and activities.
The best part is that these engaging worksheets correspond to my number sense anchor charts that you can use for each number of the week. As you discuss different representations of each number using the anchor chart, you can reinforce this discussion with a number sense activity.
If you’d like to see everything that is included in this bundle, you can find it in the A Spoonful of Learning Shop or on Teachers Pay Teachers.
I hope that these activity ideas have given you some inspiration for teaching numbers 1 to 10 in kindergarten. If you’d like some activities for teen numbers, be sure to check out this post.
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These alphabet books will have students dive deep into learning about each letter of the alphabet while eager to see what activity they get to complete next!
