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This post has been co-written with Ben Wolfson, a full-time educator and assistant principal in the USA.
The revolution has been happening quietly and stealthily over the last decade or so. More and more items, from pencil cases to socks, are bearing the ubiquitous sparkly unicorns. Once a niche obsession for a particular type of kid in your class, you’ll be hard pressed to find one student who doesn’t love unicorns (those who protest they hate them are secretly fascinated by their sparkles and magic! It makes sense, therefore, to tap into their excitement and enthusiasm with unicorn themed learning centers. These cute unicorn ten frame mats are a great tool to use at the start of the kindergarten year as you model counting to 10 and want to inject a bit of fun and magic into your math centers.
Counting Using Ten Frames
The concept of ten frame counting is relatively new to the math scene, but the science behind it is decades old. The premise is that students learn best when they encounter predictable patterns, but the traditional methods of counting piles of things is haphazard and confusing to most students. The ten frame brings order and logic to the counting system. Each number has a specific “shape” on the ten frame, which helps students move from counting using ten frames to subitizing (recognizing a group of objects having a specific value without having to count all members of that group). Add a splash of rainbow and a hint of sparkle (yes, you can add glitter before you laminate!) and these unicorn ten frame mats will have your students eager for counting practice all year long.
Preparing Unicorn Ten Frame Mats
Extension Activities For Ten Frame Counting
All you need to set up this ten frame math center is a set of the unicorn ten frame mats (laminated if you’re using dry erase markers) and a series of small objects like pom poms, counters or mini erasers. Students check the number in the yellow star and then arrange their objects in the standard ten frame form. While they’ll master this skill quickly, you can push them further with these activities:
Comparative sentences – part of the beauty of counting using ten frames is that you can immediately compare two numbers. Give your students two piles of objects, but have them count them out using the 10 frames. Then ask them to complete a comparative number sentence (e.g. there are ____ erasers than pom poms).
Different ten frame solutions -the standard use for ten frame counting is to fill up the top row from left to right, then the same for the bottom row. However, you can expand your student’s problem solving by asking them for different solutions (e.g. give them 4 items and ask them for different ways of arranging them in the ten frame).
Number bonds to 10 – finally, the overall goal for kindergarten math is to have your students start to understand the concept of addition making whole numbers larger. These unicorn ten frame mats can help you talk about pairs of numbers that add together to make 10 by jigsawing them together.