As a teacher educator working with preservice participants who are just beginning their preschool teaching careers, I have three main goals: (1) to help students draw on their own experiences in mathematics, good and bad, to create supportive mathematical learning environments for preschool children, (2) to support students in gaining knowledge about early mathematical development, and (3) to help students learn how to engage young children in rich mathematical activities.
Preschool Curriculum Course: Three Sessions
These guidelines can provide nine or more hours on early mathematics in a three-unit semester preschool curriculum course. It is broken into three segments, but can also be divided into shorter segments.
Counting in Your Future
Let’s orient participants to the influence beliefs can have on mathematics teaching, to children’s strengths, and to how to support and challenge children in their mathematical development in counting.
Session 1
Preparation homework for participants
- Readings: But, I’m not Good At Math!; Math Matters; The Mathematics of Counting; The Principal Counting Principles.
- Homework: Counting in Your Future (download below).
Classroom Activities
- Begin with the But, I'm not Good at Math! activity.
- Share the first video of Dr. Ginsburg talking about counting.
- Engage participants in role playing with small collections of objects to help them explore the core counting principles.
Session 2
Preparation homework for participants
- Readings: Overview of Formative Assessments; Formative Assessment: It Counts; Ben Learns How to Count.
- Homework: How to Analyze a Child's Counting.
Classroom Activities
- This session will engage participants in Counting Collections, a preschool classroom counting activity that is used as a tool for preservice teacher learning.
Session 3
Preparation homework for participants
- Readings: Play-based? Math?; Counting on Counting; What Children Know and Need to Learn about Counting
- Homework: Play-based? Math? activity.
Classroom Activities
- Begin with small group discussions of the homework, then ask participants to share with the whole group.
- Watch this YouTube video about counting in real life; explore with participants' thoughts on scaffolding children’s thinking.
- Use the PowerPoint from Counting Collections Overview to generate small group conversations on extending children’s thinking in the domain of counting.
- Finish the session by asking participants whether the way they think about their ability to support children’s mathematical development has changed since the first session.
Resource Type