It may also help to incorporate the concept of a ten frame at this point, including a ten frame with the appropriate number of units. For more on ten frames, see Part 2.
Note, however, that teaching children to count to 20 is not the same as teaching children to understand the number values. Counting needs to be accompanied by other lessons aimed at number awareness and comprehension.
Hopscotch games work well for this purpose. Draw 10 squares on the ground, and fill them with the numbers from 1 to 10. Have children count from 1 to 10 when they hop forward and from 11 to 20 when they hop backward.
Help children visualize this concept by writing the number 11 and, next to it, showing a ten and a single unit, separated by a circle.
For a good activity, give each child two ten frames and 20 objects of some kind. Have them create the number 11: one full ten frame, and a second ten frame with just one unit in it. Have them create the other numbers. You can also reverse the process, starting with full ten frames and taking objects away.
Add representative numbers of objects, such as small cubes, to the ones column: a single cube next to number 1, two cubes next to number 2, and so on. Explain that you could represent a ten with either ten of the small cubes or one larger stick. Fill the tens column with sticks, one by one, and explain how these numbers would work together to create larger numbers.
You can make this game more challenging by asking harder questions – “who has the number that is two more than 13?” – or by having students break down their numbers into tens and units when they rise.
