Ya’ll know how much I love ABC BOOTCAMP in our class because it’s fun and it’s highly effective. That’s why we use the same model for numbers and counting with Number Bootcamp. TKS Bootcamp’s NUMBER BOOTCAMP! It’s very similar to ABC BOOTCAMP and uses circle charts to introduce numbers and counting and is based on research and best practices.
Number Bootcamp focuses on the mastery of numbers to 20: number recognition, number writing, one-to-one correspondence, counting to answer how many and we’re learning math vocabulary and various ways to represent numbers.
We do a number a day for 20 days.
Prior to class, I print and cut out all of the pieces that represent the numbers for the week. For example, if we’re doing numbers 1-5 this week, I would print and cut out the pieces for 1-6. I include 6 so we have two sets of numbers in the pocket chart on Friday.
Then I place the pieces for two or three numbers in our pocket chart. So we would have pieces for numbers 1 and 2. Or possibly 3 if you wanted to do three numbers. I add pieces after each day to keep pieces for two or three numbers in the chart. I’ve found that this is a good amount of pieces and not too overwhelming for the kids.
We identify the number and repeat the number several times.
The kids show me the correct amount of fingers.
We count our fingers.
We count to the number orally.
And then, we take turns finding the different representations of the number.
We identify the representation by name (ten frame, domino, etc).
We count the objects for each representation with explicit modeling of one-to-one correspondence. I also emphasize touching to count and going slow. This explicit modeling and practice is what teaches our kids how to count and answer how many.
After we make the circle charts, we go back and count and identify each piece. For the ordinal number, we identify the friend who is in that position in line. This makes a great real-world, concrete connection for them!
Number Writing
Then we do number writing. I explicitly model how to write the numbers using our document camera. And we practice air writing our numbers with our fingers.
And then, students practice writing the numbers.
Small Group Math: Number Bootcamp
We use the student books in small groups to differentiate and meet the needs of all students. These books are perfect for working on one-to-one correspondence, number recognition, and counting! For our books, we use stickers! But you can have students draw pictures or use stamp pads and fingerprints!
Check out Number Bootcamp in action in our classroom!
Number Bootcamp is available in five themes:
