Many teachers are already back to school, with the rest of us soon to follow. I'm re-posting this updated (free) 'Count the Days in School' pack. If there is only one new math routine you add into your K-2 school day, this should definitely be it. 

Why? Let me count the ways! 
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- It only takes 1-2 minutes each morning. Very quick, very easy, very effective!
- Children love it (you must find a way to keep track of who has already had a turn to add the sticker to a 10 frame or you will have arguments on your hands).
- It provides a visual representation that children are directed to each morning of both number amounts (how big a number is) and place value information (tens/units, but also hundreds if you continue to count past 100 days, which I highly recommend). 
- It provides an easy way into early years Number Talks, while also providing that important visual representation that helps kids to really 'get' numbers, how they are constructed and how they can be partitioned. 

I've updated this pack to make it slightly easier to print and cut out. I've also included 3 pages of Number Talk ideas for the 3 different stages (K-2 / P1-3 / Reception-Year 2).

The main title for this display is 'We are counting the days in school'. In this pack, however, I've also included 4 additional titles that allow you to count: 
1) Days in the School Week
2) Days until Christmas
3) Days until Spring Break
4) Days until Summer

I know that there are some settings where counting smaller amounts (or more repetition of early counting skills) is important, so hopefully these additional sign options will help more people incorporate this routine into their classes in a way that is meaningful for their own pupils.

Welcome Back to School!

In the States, the idea is that you count the first 100 days of school. On the 100th day there is a big celebration, with lots of activities based on 100.

Our infant department did '100 days of school' this year, and I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed our 'celebration' (who doesn't like to make chocolate wheeto necklaces with 100 cheerios?). But in Primary 1, we carried on counting - this picture is from yesterday, when we hit Day 177. 

In this simple addition to our morning routine, place value and reading numbers to 100 and beyond is reinforced every single day. I like using the ten frames to keep track, as we use them often during maths rotations.

Little ones need repetition so much - especially for tricky maths concepts like place value. Luckily, they also LOVE repetition, so even though I am mightily tired of counting beyond 100, they are still tuned in!

As part of our mental maths, and before we get to dot cards, my class and I count how many days we've been in school that year. This is a fabulous idea I've borrowed from the American teaching blogs I follow.

We don't just add a dot to our ten frame and change the number on our counting wall, though. I have magnetic Base 10 materials that we use to make the number from the previous day, and then add 1 to it. When we have the time, 4 kiddos get to be involved in this process (one to make 177, another to add 1 to it and finish the equation, one to add another dot to our counting wall and one to change the counting wall number).

I'd love to hear how you develop number sense in your classroom. And any ideas on how I can use and/or adapt this routine for older children would be very much appreciated!