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3–2–1 Action! Key Target Skills: Cardinality; Written Numeral Knowledge Activity Preparation: Decide whether you will use number cards or dots cards, and what range of numbers you will use. Copy and cut apart enough cards for each child to receive one card and for you to have a full set of the cards in the range you have chosen. Also copy and cut apart one set of action cards. Materials: Prepared number or dot cards (see above and pages 3–6 and pp. 9–10 for options); prepared action cards (see pp. 7–8). Words to Use: count; how many; number words __________________________________________________________________________ What to Do: Have children sit in a circle with you. Pass out one card to each child in the group, telling children not to show their card to anyone else. For small groups, each child will receive a different number. If you play with a larger group or the whole class, you will need multiple sets of cards, meaning more than one child will have the same number.

1. Pick a card from your deck, show it, and have the group say the number out loud. Tell them that this is the action number for that round.

2. Have children look at their cards. If they think they have the action number, they should turn it around and show the whole group.

3. Encourage the rest of the group to look at the card(s). Ask them to put their thumbs up if they think all of the numbers that are showing match, and to put their thumbs down if they think any of the numbers don’t match. Work together to check and confirm.

4. Have the children with cards that match the action number stand up. They will be the performers for this round.

5. Without looking, draw an action card from the pile (or have a child draw one). Then have the performers perform that action the same number of times as the action number while the rest of the group counts out loud to keep them in sync.

6. Repeat with a new action number and action card. Play until every child has had a chance to be a performer at least once.

Introduction: This is an active lesson that provides practice with counting and cardinality (if using dot cards), as well as with numeral recognition and associating numerals with quantities (if using numeral cards). You can play this game with a small group or with the whole class at circle time. Tailor the cards you use to the skill(s) you want to practice and to the numbers children are working on.

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Adjusting the Activity:

Use cards with small sets of dots (three or fewer) for children who are still working on the cardinal principle. Use combination number-dot cards (pp. 9–10) to support students who are still learning written numerals.

Use a larger range of cards (up to ten dots or the numeral ten) for students who are ready. You can also mix numeral and dot cards (so some children have dots and some have numerals) to help children associate the numerals and the quantities. You might also have children create dot cards for the game that show different arrangements of the same quantity.

What to Watch For:

Cardinality (dot cards): • Are children reliably able to identify matching cards and rule out near-matches (like

3 and 4)? If children having difficulty differentiating between cards, note which numbers are difficult for them.

• What strategies do children use to decide if their cards match? Do they count the dots, match the shape the dots make, or something else?

Written Numeral Knowledge (number cards):

• Can children identify and name written numerals? Which ones do they know? Which ones don’t they know yet?

• Are students able to differentiate between numbers that may appear similar, such as 2 and 5, 6 and 9, or 1 and 7?

321 Action 1/8 | Dot Cards (0–5)

1 0

23

5 4

321 Action 2/8 | Number Cards (0–5)

321 Action 3/8 | Dot Cards (6–10)

7

8

6

9

10

321 Action 4/8 | Number Cards (6–10)

321 Action 5/8 | Action Cards 1

321 Action 6/8 | Action Cards 2

10

2 3

4 5

321 Action 7/8 | Number-Dot Cards (0–5)

6

7 8

9 10

321 Action 8/8 | Number-Dot Cards (6–10)