This activity has been revised and was originally created by Mary Jane Clark and published in the Perkins Activity and Resource Guide (1st edition, 1992). The second edition is available for purchase.
Often students are able to count all the items in a given set but have a harder time forming a smaller set from the larger one. This activity works on those number concepts as well as one-to-one correspondence. Lessons include Concept Development, Math and Independent Living Skills.
Common items – select items from the student’s daily experience
-
Give the student five identical objects such as bowls, pennies or cards.
-
Ask the student for a specific number of items, for example, “Give me three bowls.”
-
Repeat this with different quantities and objects.
-
As the student becomes familiar with this activity, have him select from a larger set (such as ten items).
-
If the student has difficulty with this activity, be sure it is set up so that he is actually removing the objects from the larger set (as opposed to just touching each item as he is counting). Place a box on the table, and have the student place the requested amount into the box.
-
When the student has mastered this activity, mix a number of different items on the tray and help him find three spoons from the collection of items.
-
To help develop the concept of “remainder,” once the student is able to remove items from a larger set, begin to ask, “How many are left?”
-
Develop a concept of even sets by dividing the set in half.