Five Ways to Practice Counting By Fives

I've got some kids that totally need practice counting by 5s!  

This is a pretty important math concept, as it is needed to count money as well as tell time.  As they get older, it will help with multiplication.  

 

Plus, it's in the Common Core State Standards for second grade:  CCSS.Math.Content 2 NBT.A.2: Count within 1000; skip count by 5s, 10s, and 100s.

Yes, that does say within 1,000!  That means they should be able to start at 825 and keep going by 5s through 1,000!

That's why I brainstormed this list of 

Five Ways to Practice Counting by Fives!

1.  Here is a YouTube Video that's great!  It combines music, rhythm, visuals, and fun!  That's a brain-based recipe for learning!

Counting by Fives Song  by Have Fun Learning

I'll bet if you googled "counting by 5s" on YouTube, you'd find plenty more!

2.  Learning Games!  I posted about this game just the other day. It's great for learning any sequence that needs to be memorized. To download the directions, explore the image for the link, or go here: How to Play Countdown.

3.  Let them see the pattern!  I like to have loads of laminated copies of number grids around the room for the kids to look at, talk about, and mark up with their wipe-off markers.  They can call out the numbers by 5s as they circle them.  It really helps those visual kids to see the patterns. (Brain research tells us ALL students benefit from visuals! You can download a color-coded number grid here: Color Coded Number Grid.(or see  the image.) Plus you can download your color-coded grid to 1,000 grid here: Numbers 0 - 1,000.

4.  Get physical - and funny!  Kids need to move, and we know that movement and exercise help bring oxygen to the brain, therefore helping the memory!  We do loads of movement while counting, such as follow the leader, brain gym exercises, jumping jacks, push-ups, and just about anything we can think of to get the counting to be automatic.  Since laughter also brings oxygen to the brain, it's fun to do the counting with a funny voice. For some reason, I often break into a southern accent while counting by 5s, and the kids giggle like crazy and join right in!  (Waving y'all to all my southern friends... feel free to break into my Boston accent with your kids!)

5.  Don't stop at 100, and leave out the "and"!  I know, this isn't actually a 5th idea, but it's a pet peeve of mine.  My second graders are learning that counting by 5s keeps going after 100!  Those first 2 rows after 100 on the hundred grid are the toughest for the kids to learn, so it's important to go at least past 120!  Did you realize the proper way to say 105 is "one hundred five" without the word and. Technically, the word "and" stands for the decimal point, so "one hundred and five" really means 100.5.  (OK, you'd really say "one hundred and five-tenths", but let's get the kids in the right habit now so the kids won't get confused when they learn decimals!) 

 How do you practice counting by 5s with your students?

Three Quick Math Brain Activities

Teachers can do many quick things to activate the brain while teaching math. 

Remember, the brain needs movement and active engagement to activate those dendrites! 

 

Keeping things fun along with social interactions are putting the brain in the best place for learning to happen. Here are some tricks I use.

1. Skip Count beanie toss: Skip counting is big in second grade.  Beanie babies are huge in my class. gairs of children pick up a beanie and start counting. The children say a new count every time they catch the beanie. They keep going as high as they can until time is up.  This could be done with Math facts, too!

2. Musical Math Facts:  Work in groups of 4 or 5. Put one less fact card on the desk or table. As the music starts, they walk around the table. (Dancing is optional!) Works just like musical chairs, but when the music stops, each child picks up a math fact.  The last person to say the correct answer to his/ her fact becomes the "cheerleader". (I use cheerleader rather than loser, as I insist they say positive things to their classmates, even if they're out. I always remind the boys that, in my class, "cheerleader" doesn't mean wearing a short skirt and shaking pom poms, it means supporting their teammates.)  I like to have several groups going at once, since more kids are practicing more frequently, and it goes more quickly. The teacher can keep an eye on those kids that need more guidance. 

3. Calendar March:  My students need to practice the days of the week and the months of the year until they know them by heart. From their desk position, they all chant the months of the year and march in any direction. (Of course, I remind them to keep their distance from furniture and people.) Then I challenge them to return to their seat by marching to the Days of the Week. 

Of course, feel free to adapt any of these ideas to your own grade level. I use most of these as a warm-up at the beginning of math, or as a break to keep the brain focused.

Of course, these three activities can be adapted for anything that needs to be reinforced. Rather than skip counting, math facts, or days of the week, try the same activities for some other subjects. Here are some ideas:

• Spelling: practicing their spelling words, or "igh" family words
• Reading: Name all the characters in today's story, or tell the main events in sequential order.
• Social Studies: Name the 7 continents, or name as many states as you can

The possibilities are endless. And this is only the beginning of brain-based learning in the classroom!