Counting the Stars

by Diane L. Glaspie Cline, BA, MS Elementary and Kindergarten
(Lafayette, Indiana)

I am a teacher presently teaching Title 1 Reading and Math grades 1-5. My students that are struggling to count have just bumped up a notch and I am excited to share our success with you.

I presently teach using Touch Math and then make up my own ideas based on the needs of the students. The children were not able to transfer the touching and counting of dots to numbers and problems and any abstract work on paper.

To help bridge that gap and make it more meaningful, I pulled from my childhood and guided them in a discussion as follows:

LESSON: "Think of how you look out your window at night and see the stars. Do you ever count the stars or look for pictures in the sky? Remember laying on your back on the grass and counting the stars in the night sky or finding pictures in clouds? Well counting is a lot like that. Have you heard of the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper and other pictures in the sky?

Older students study Astronomy in school which is learning about pictures in the sky using the stars and star patterns. They pretend to connect them with lines like we do on our dot-to-dot papers. Sometimes we can guess what the picture is - from the dots - before we make our lines. Well, that is how I want to help you remember how to count. I will hang stars up in the room in patterns and we will learn the number which represents that pattern of stars as we draw the lines connecting the stars.

We will also learn the number of stars by recognizing the pattern without the lines. These stars will remind us of our numbers and counting our numbers. So, we will find a pattern in the stars and remember to count those stars like counting dots."

TO MAKE THE MATERIALS: I used transparencies of numbers 1-9 each having its own A4 sheet. I purchased a box of 50 Glow In The Dark Colorful Stars and using the white putty that came in the package, I attached stars in the proper 'Touch Math' areas for counting 1-9.

For the circles that surround the numbers 6-9, I substituted the tiny star as the circle, then the small star as the dot. I used the medium stars as the dots on numbers 1-5. The stars are colorful, but I did start with the counting dot (1) all the same color on all numbers; I used white as counting 1 on each then used other colors throughout finishing the counting. If you wish, you can purchase the glow in the dark necklaces/bracelets, or galaxy/solar system to use or make the circles around the stars instead of the double star idea.

These are spread around the room towards the ceiling and can be hung as well. WOW!! My students will never forget now how they learned and remembered their counting. What an experience to remember the rest of their life.

How we simplify teaching to match their childhood experiences, such as counting stars at night, so the children make meaningful connections makes all the difference for speeding up their success. This has been one of my most invigorating lessons to teach and the children come to my "star" class eager to count and learn. I hope this helps other struggling students become "star" students as well.

Diane L. Glaspie Cline, STAR Teacher
(Our Title program is called STAR too!)