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Prerequisite Skills: The prerequisite skills describe what concepts a student needs to understand before working on this concept.

Standard 6.0 Knowledge of Number Relationships and Computation/Arithmetic

Topic A. Knowledge of Number and Place Value

Indicator 1. Apply knowledge of whole numbers and place value

Objective b. Construct relationships between and among quantities using language such as: more than, less than, fewer than, as many as, one more, one less

Prerequisite Skills

Developing understandings about more, less, and equal begins before children enter school. Young children develop understandings about the concept of more before the concept of less. This is likely because more is a term used frequently by children in their everyday lives, and they can visually see a quantity that contains more. However, children have a harder time understanding the term less. To help students who are developing understandings about these concepts:

  • Pair the term less with the term more when quantities are being compared. For example, when students compare two sets of objects ask, "Which set has more?" (Pause for response.) "Which set has less?" (Pause for response.) Always ask, "How did you know this set had more (or less)?" This requires students to think and reason.
  • Use a one-to-one matching strategy. When shown two sets, a student lines the two sets up so that each object has a "partner." The set that has objects without partners is a larger quantity or more. When the objects from both sets are lined up, it allows students to have a visual picture of the smaller set being a part of the larger set. Once students have an understanding of more and less, the one-to-one matching strategy is not necessary for students to determine sets with more or less.
  • Conserving number is a crucial concept in students' ability to understand the relationship between and among sets of objects. This is the understanding that a set of objects spread out is the same quantity as a set of objects arranged closely together. Conservation of number enables students to make judgments about quantities based on the number of objects regardless of the arrangements of the objects. For example, shaking and spilling 7 connecting cubes (same color) and then counting the cubes each time they land, helps with conservation. Cubes are landing in different arrangements but always have 7 in the set.

Resource:
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Mathematics for the Young Child. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000.
/instruction/prereqs/mathematics/gradeK/xml/6A1b.xml
Resources for Objective 6.A.1.b:
Clarifications | PREREQUISITES | Thinking Skills | Sample Assessments |