During Spark, students get the blood going by walking /
running laps around the gym. As they
complete a lap, they collect a Popsicle stick.
Each stick represents 1 lap, but they are different colors. Once they’ve collected an assigned number of
sticks, students pick up a place value chart and place their sticks on the
chart based on their color (neutral = ones, red = tens, orange = hundreds, and
so on). Students are then asked to name
the number that they’ve made with their sticks.
(3 reds and 7 neutral = 3 tens and 7 ones = 30 + 7 = 37)
Outside with Mrs. Ball, Mrs. Walsh’s students walk along a
number line on the sidewalk, saying the numbers as they step on them. After taking care to step on the correct
numbers (that go with their rote counting) the group is then challenged to step
(or skip) over 1 as they move from 0.
“What number are you on now?” They continue to skip over one number each
time and say only the numbers they step on.
Many are able to do this from memory as well, and one enthusiastic student
shares, “We are stepping on the even numbers and skipping over the odd
numbers!” Next they move to skip
counting by 5’s then on to 10’s. Yes,
that takes a very big jump!
