Fun with Skip Counting: Lesson Plans for Grade 1 Students

Skip counting lesson plans for the 1^st grade should take into account the absorption levels of the students. The lesson plan should handle the verbal and written practices separate to accommodate the motor skills development and ability of the students to think and note down the counting process. Skip counting lesson plan should allow advancement of the skip counting exercises based on teacher observations on the progress shown by the children.

It is best to divide the 1^st grade lesson plans as exploratory activities, concept development activities, guided practice and independent practice to make sure the child understands the concept of counting well. It is essential to create interest in skip counting by appealing to the visual faculty of children by using distinct recognizable items such as coins or paper clips or marbles. Dancing to theme songs on skip counting should be included to help children memorize number sequences. Skip counting lesson plans should allow children to define their own dance patterns to understand the numbering system. The lesson plan should cover skip counting over many weeks to ensure that the children understand and recognize the material to the number sequence.

Skip counting lesson plans should be a focused activity to train the children to understand different applications and purpose of skip counting. Real coins of various denominations can be used as material to teach skip counting. Skip counting lesson plan should visit the basics of coins and denominations to make sure the children follow the concept of skip counting. Exploratory activity aspect of the 1^st grade lesson plan should have many fun activities and focus on introduction. Introduction should have activities to teach the children to differentiate between number of coins and value of coins.

Skip counting learning should use music tape to play skip counting songs with the stress on counting one by one. The teacher must sing along in class every day until the children can sing the song without the help of the tape or teacher. Next stage of 1^st grade lesson plan should move to concept development by using procedures and related activities. The concentration of the lesson plan should be on moving to counting in 2s but only even numbers. The lesson plan should include activity that involves grouping of candies or beans in 2s to understand the even number sequence.

Skip counting lesson plans should be supported with regular practice and the complexity of the numbers should increase as the children become comfortable with a skip counting sequence. Skip counting lesson plans to provide sufficient leeway to help children grasp the fundamentals well and associate the learning with other complex sequences. The 1^st grade lesson plan should instigate the children to start skip counting whenever they come across coins. There must be enough exercises to allow children to demonstrate their ability to skip count and help other children to improve in their counting skills.