Learning to skip count in 2s up to 10

General

Students learn the trick of counting in groups in different contexts. They also learn that groups of 2 can be set up in different ways and that it is most useful to count the pairs and then count the loose objects.

Common core standard(s)

2.OA.C.3

Relevance

You explain that it is useful to count in twos, because it is faster. You can show this with the introduction.

Introduction

The interactive whiteboard shows six students in pairs standing in a row. Ask students (possibly in pairs) to come up with ways to count the students in the row. Ask if they can come up with any quicker or easier ways of counting. They are allowed to count 1,2,3,4,5,6. Discuss the suggestions they give which might include counting one row, then the other, or counting girls/boys separately.

Development

Ask a student to take off their shoes and set them on the table at the front of the class. Ask the student how many shoes are on the table. Ask another student to take off their shoes and add them to the table. There were 2 on the table, and now 2 more, so you have 4 shoes. Keep going until you have 10 shoes on the table. Show that with uneven numbers you count all the pairs before you count the last loose object.

Check that students can skip count in 2s by asking the following questions:
What are useful or quick ways of counting?
Why do you skip count in 2s?
If you have many pairs and one loose object, which do you count first, and why?
How do you skip count in 2s? (you skip one number every time).

Guided Practice

Students practice with skip counting in 2s with objects, and then dots. Ask the students to count aloud as much as possible.

Closing

Check that students can skip count in 2s and that they can explain that they always add two to the previous number. Emphasize that skip counting in 2s is useful because you can count faster.

Teaching Tip

For students who have some difficulty, tell them that they need to always count two more. If students know the number right away and knows a number without counting, they are already advanced.