Skip Counting Turkeys

The students worked in small groups to create skip counting turkeys. Each group was given a number to start with and then told if they would skip count by 2s, 5s, or 10s. They discussed the number patterns with their group and then recorded their pattern on the turkey feathers.

Skip Counting Puzzles

The students worked in small groups to create skip counting puzzles. Each group was given a sentence strip, a beginning number, and a rule card for what number they would be skipping by. On their sentence strip, they wrote their skip counting pattern down. They then covered three of the numbers with Post-It Notes. Each group them presented their puzzle to the class for their friends to solve the missing numbers.

Holly Garland Number Patterns

To help review number patterns, the students created number lines using Holly leaves and berries. The berries represented the numbers on a number line and the leaves were the spaces in between the numbers. The students used a recording sheet to first identify the skip counting rule for their pattern. They then transferred the pattern to the number line using the strategy of drawing jumping hills. In this strategy, students draw a hill from one number to the next and count how many hills are between two given numbers in a number pattern. Fellow teachers, you can download the templates for this lesson at my TPT store.

Number Pattern Turkeys

In math we have been learning about number patterns including odd and even. The students worked in groups to identify even and odd numbers on a 30 chart. Each student was then given a number card. They cirlced their number on their 30 chart and identified if their number was even or odd. They then extended their skip counting pattern five more times. They then created a turkey and wrote their number pattern on the turkey feathers.

Skip Counting Number Lines

The students worked together to create skip counting number lines for 2s and 5s using their handprints and socks. The number lines are currently hanging in our class as an anchor chart.

Skip Counting Puzzles

The students worked in small groups to put number cards in order following the skip counting rules of 2s, 5, and 10s. After putting them in order, they wrote the patterns down on sentence strips. They then took the sentence strips back to their tables and covered three of the numbers up with Post-It notes to create skip counting puzzles. The students then took turns solving one anothers' puzzles to find the missing numbers in the patterns.

Holly Berry Number Lines and Number Patterns

As a review of number patterns, the students created their own number lines on sentence strips using Holly Berries and Holly Leaves. The berries represented the numbers and the leaves represented the space in between the numbers. After the students glued down the berries and leaves, I worked with the students in small groups to identify number pattern rules. Each group was given a different number pattern to complete. For example, one group was given the number pattern 9, 12, 15, 18. So, the students numbered the berries from 9 to 18 in order. They then drew "jumping hills" from 9 to 12 on the top of their number line. They then drew "jumping hills" from 12 to 15 but this time on the bottom of their number line. They then alternated back to the top for 15 to 18. The reason I had them alternate the "jumping hills" from top to bottom was so that they could visually see how many "jumping hills" were between each step in their number pattern. After identifying the pattern, the students wrote the rule, such as "Rule +3" for this example, on their number line. The "jumping hills" are a little hard to see in the pictures because they drew them with red colored pencils in case they needed to erase.

Jumping Hills - Number Patterns

While learning about number patterns, the students learned the strategy of using "jumping hills" on a number line to count the number of spaces between numbers. To help them practice, students used dry erase mats and number lines to draw their "jumping hills." For example, if the number pattern was 1, 5, 9 then the students would draw a hill from 1 to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 4, and then 4 to 5. They would see that there were four "hills" or four spaces. They would then repeat this going from the number 5 to the number 9. They would then see that it was again, four spaces. From this they could conclude that the skip counting rule was +4. The "jumping hills" really give the students a good visual of skip counting number patterns.

Number Pattern Turkeys

Today we practiced skip counting by twos with both even and odd numbers. The students started by coloring the even numbers of a thirty chart. They quickly discovered that they were skip counting by two. They then colored the odd numbers on the chart. We discussed that this is also skip counting by two. The students then picked a number card from 1-20 and identified if their number was even or odd. We formed two groups based off of the numbers - an even group and an odd group. The students then circled their number on the thirty chart. They then circled the next five numbers in their skip counting pattern. Using feather and turkey body patterns, the students traced and cut out shapes to create their own turkey. They then wrote their skip counting pattern on the turkey's feathers and identified whether their numbers were even or odd. They then shared their number patterns with their table groups.