Book lesson: How Many Feet in the Bed?

Lesson written by: Jennifer Perkins

Essential Questions for students (objectives): How can groups of twos be organized to count a total? How can multiplication be organized in a table? What tools can be used to identify patterns? How can I link skip counting to multiplication?

 

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Supplies: How Many Feet in the Bed by Diane Johnston Hamm, Bed template, People template, Hundreds chart, Number line, T-chart  Center Supplies: Toy animals and insects, bags, recording sheet

Prior Knowledge/Possible Warm-up Activities:  Skip counting around the room
Time needed: 1 hour

Instructional format: Whole group and small group
Vocabulary: Skip count, Twos, Multiply, Groups of, Table, Pattern

Description of Lesson:

Whole Group:

1. Read How Many Feet in the Bed to the students one time for enjoyment.

2. Read the book again, this time focusing on acting out the story using the bed template and people template.  Ask students what patterns they notice when another person gets in the bed.  Reinforce skip counting and multiplying by 2.  You can use the hundreds chart and number line to model what is happening.  Discuss sets and groups of two.  The focus is the multiplication and the sets of feet being added to the bed.  The removal of the feet is not essential at this time.

3. Connect the visual representations of the hundreds chart and number line to a T-chart.  Discuss the patterns in the table as well as the process that takes place to make the pattern (rule). 

Small Group/Center:

In a bag, put a collection of toy animals and insects such as lions, giraffes, penguins, flamingos, spiders, ladybugs, etc.

1. Students reach into the bag and pull out one toy.

2. Students make a table to show the number of legs on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 animals.

3. Students show the pattern of the number of legs on a hundreds chart and number line.

Interdisciplinary Connections:

ELA and Science- Students write about the habitat of their chosen animal.

Art- Students draw a picture to illustrate their animal and the number on legs on 5 animals in their habitat.

Social Studies: Students choose a community event such as a basketball game, and explain the number of fingers on a team.
 
Assessment (Acceptable Evidence): center recording sheet

 

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