'Number: Time for tea' is a reimagining of classic sequence 'Authentic Problems: Tea Party''
- On the 'In this sequence' tab you'll find all the tasks in this sequence, a suggested implementation plan and curriculum alignment.
- The 'Behind this sequence' tab shows how key mathematical ideas develop over the sequence.
- Have you taught this sequence? Use the Feedback button to let us know how it went!
Tasks in this sequence
Task 1 • A box of things
Students sort, categorise, and count tea party items, discerning similarities and differences between them.
Task 2 • A placemat for me
Students plan and draw a placemat of everything they would need for a class tea party, count the items on their placemat, and compare with other students.
Task 3 • Placemats for our group
Students plan and draw matching placemat settings in small groups. They count and compare the number of items on each placemat to check the number of items is the same.
Task 4 • It’s time for tea!
Students use their group list to count and organise the number of tea party items for their group. It’s time for tea!
Suggested implementation
We recommend implementing this teaching sequence over four consecutive days, with the lesson timings provided in the documentation designed to support this approach. This sequence focuses on developing the principles of counting and making connections between number names, numerals and quantities. Making sense of these ideas is fundamental to students learning to count. For this reason, we suggest teaching Number: Time for tea before Number: Taking handfuls.
Curriculum and syllabus alignment
Achievement standards
In Foundation, students make connections between number names, numerals and position in the sequence of numbers from zero to at least 20. They use subitising and counting strategies to quantify collections. Students compare the size of collections to at least 20. They partition and combine collections up to 10 in different ways, representing these with numbers.
Australian Curriculum V9 alignment
Number
Name, represent and order numbers including zero to at least 20, using physical and virtual materials and numerals
Recognise and name the number of objects within a collection up to 5 using subitising
Quantify and compare collections to at least 20 using counting and explain or demonstrate reasoning
Partition and combine collections up to 10 using part-part-whole relationships and subitising to recognise and name the parts
Represent practical situations involving addition, subtraction and quantification with physical and virtual materials and use counting or subitising strategies
Represent practical situations involving equal sharing and grouping with physical and virtual materials and use counting or subitising strategies
Each task in this sequence uses the Launch-Explore-Connect-Summarise task structure.
Early experiences with number, such as classifying, sorting, grouping, and ordering, provide the foundations for being able to quantify number, as well as underpinning student capacity to subitise and count.
Subitising involves being able to instantly recognise numbers up to four or five (known as perceptual subitising). This develops into conceptual subitising when children recognise larger numbers as being made up of smaller groups; for example, recognising seven as a group of three and a group of four, or a group of five and two. Conceptual subitising helps to develop a part-part-whole understanding of numbers, where a number can be represented as a sum of smaller parts.
Counting requires students to connect number names, numerals and quantities, and to trust the count.
“Counting to find ‘how many’ items are in a collection and making collections when asked to match the number of items to given numbers is complex” (The State of Queensland, 2006).
There are five fundamental principles of counting (Gelman & Gallistel, 1978) which underpin students’ capacity to understand 'how' to count and 'what' to count.
This sequence provides a meaningful opportunity for students to develop understanding of and competency with each of these principles. Throughout the tasks, there are opportunities for teachers to observe students applying the principles of counting.
| Counting principles | In this sequence |
|---|---|
| One-to-one principle: Each item should be counted just once. | Repeated opportunities to physically count items for a tea party. |
| Stable order principle: Number names should be repeated in the conventional order. | Repeated opportunities to use counting sequence when counting physical items. |
| Cardinality principle: The final number named represents the number of items in the whole collection, as long as they are only counted once and in the conventional order. | Recording the final number named to represent the number of items in the whole count. |
| Abstraction principle: Anything can be counted, physical or non-physical items. | Physically counting different tea party items. |
| Order irrelevance principle: Items may be counted in any order as long as each item is only counted once. | Counting from a different starting place. |
When students understand that no matter how a collection is arranged or rearranged, recounting it will yield the same number, they demonstrate what Willis (2002) identified as ‘trusting the count’. This concept has since been expanded to include a child’s ability to access mental representations of quantities from 0 to 10, based on their understanding of these as cardinal numbers (Siemon et al., 2011).
Sequence framework
This sequence framework presents an overview of the key elements in this sequence.
| Learning goals | Students’ mathematical activity | Representation | Context | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Task 1 | Items can be sorted and classified according to similarities and differences between them. To keep track of the count, each item must be counted only once. The last number counted represents how many in the whole count. | Students notice similarities and differences between tea party items. They sort and classify tea party items into categories and count how many are in each category. Students begin to connect the act of counting the items and the number of items there are. | Sort and categorise different tea party items into groups. | Sort a box of tea party items to categorise what they are used for and count the number in each category. |
| Task 2 | Quantities can be compared to find which has more and which has less. Items may be counted in any order as long as each item is only counted once. Number names have a stable order which allows objects to be counted in order. | Students plan and draw a placemat setting for themselves to include tea party items. They count and compare the number of items on each placemat drawing in their group to see if they have more, less or the same number of items as other students in their group. | Plan and draw placemat settings, including specific tea party items. | Organise tea party items for individual student placemat and compare, count and check how many. |
| Task 3 | Quantities can be compared to find which has more and which has less. Number names have a stable order which allows objects to be counted in order. | Students plan and draw a placemat setting for each student in their group to have the same number of tea party items. They count and compare the number of items on each placemat drawing to see if they have same number of tea party items. | Plan and draw placemat settings that show the same number of tea party items for each student in the group. Make a group list of the number of each tea party item. |
Count, recount and check the number of tea party items their group needs. |
| Task 4 | The last number counted represents how many in the whole count. Number names have a stable order which allows objects to be counted in order. Items may be counted in any order as long as each item is only counted once. | Students use their group list to count and organise the number of each tea party item for their group. They agree on how many party food items they may each have on their plate to have the same amount. | Number of placemat setting matches number of each tea party item for the group. | Set the table, count and organise the tea party items and party food items for every student to have the same amount. |
References
Gelman, R. & Gallistel, C. (1978) The Child's Understanding of Number. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press.
Siemon, D., Beswick, K., Brady, K., Clark, J., Faragher, R., & Warren, E. (2011). Teaching mathematics: Foundations to middle years. University of Tasmania.
Willis, S. (2002). Crossing borders: Learning to count. Australian Educational Researcher, 29(2), 115-130.
The State of Queensland (Queensland Studies Authority) (2006). Early years curriculum materials: Developing early mathematical understandings. Retrieved from <https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/p_10/ey_lt_maths_understandings.pdf>
'Number: Time for tea' is a reimagining of classic sequence 'Authentic Problems: Tea Party''
- On the 'In this sequence' tab you'll find all the tasks in this sequence, a suggested implementation plan and curriculum alignment.
- The 'Behind this sequence' tab shows how key mathematical ideas develop over the sequence.
- Have you taught this sequence? Use the Feedback button to let us know how it went!