Teaching Mathematics in a School Library

Lesson Overview

Read the book, How Many Feet in the Bed?, by Diane Johnston Hamm.

Focus on how the story lets students skip count by twos. When the father is in the bed, there are two feet, and when one more person gets into bed, there are four feet. Show that this is skip counting: if another person gets into bed, there will be six feet. Expand on this idea by asking, how many toes are in the bed? and skip counting fingers and toes by 10s. For older grades, add more people to the bed to cover adding and subtracting larger numbers. — Ideas from McKinney and Hinton 2010

Lesson Goals:

• Students can skip count by twos.
• Students can skip count by 10s.

Lesson Plan Materials

See this idea and more ideas in detail in McKinney and Hinton 2010 p. 22.

Common Core State Standards this Lesson Supports

• CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.A.1 Count to 100 by ones and by tens.
• CCSS.Math.Content.K.OA.A.2 Solve addition and subtraction word problems, and add and subtract within 10, e.g., by using objects or drawings to represent the problem.
• CCSS.Math.Content.1.OA.C.5 Relate counting to addition and subtraction (e.g., by counting on 2 to add 2).

AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner

• AASL 2.1.3 Use strategies to draw conclusions from information and apply knowledge to curricular areas, real-world situations, and further investigations.