Zero is Our Hero

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Students understand that counting by 10s is counting large sets of things. By building a mental picture of what 100 things look like (100 milk cartons, 100 pennies, 100 children, 100 square feet), children see logic to the sequence 10, 20, 30, 40, etc.

OBJECTIVE

Students Will:

1. Make folding cards that hide a zero and when opened up reveal a new numeral.
2. Be able to put folding numeral cards in sequential order.
3. Be able to recognize numerals 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100.

MATERIALS

1. Royal blue 12" X 18" construction paper
2. White paper 6" X 6"
3. Red zeros cut out on die cut or traced and pre-cut
4. Crayons
5. 200 yellow rectangles 2" X 2", with 1/3 of the rectangle folded over. Lay the rectangle flat on the table. Fold the right side over until the right paper-edge makes a line down the center of the folded paper. Imagine writing a numeral 10 on this paper. The 1 will be out in the open. The 0 will be under the flap.
6. Glue
7. 20 fine line black markers
8. Typed couplet, one for each student:

Zero is our Hero.
He makes numbers bigger!

SET UP AND PREPARE

1. Have 20 zeros pre-cut.
2. Cut 200 yellow rectangles 2" X 2" and fold with the 1/3rd flap.
3. Cut white paper into 20, 6" X 6" pieces.

DIRECTIONS

Day 1
Step 1: Have students glue the zero on the middle of the white paper.

Step 2: Using crayons, draw face inside the zero.

Step 3: Using crayons, make a cowboy hat on top of the zero.

Step 4: Using crayons, make arms and legs coming out from the zero.

Step 5: Teacher cuts out each Hero for next day's activity.

Day 2
Step 1: Glue Hero to the middle of the Royal Blue 12" X 18" construction paper.

Step 2: With marker or pencil, have students write numeral 10 on one yellow rectangle that has 1/3 of the paper is folded. Show students that the 1should show and the zero should be behind the flap. When the paper is completely open, the whole numeral 10 shows.

Step 3: Repeat step 2 for numerals 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100

Step 4: Glue numerals 10-50 above Zero the Hero on the blue paper. Glue the numerals 60-100 across the bottom.

Step 5: Glue on the words:

Zero is a Hero
He makes numbers bigger!

LESSON EXTENSION
Use ten paper plates to put ten objects on each plate. Label each plate with a numeral (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100). This is a great activity to use when sharing collections. The students like to break down each other's collections into ten groups of ten.

ASSESS STUDENTS

Teacher Observation:

1. Were students able to count by ten?
2. Were students able to put numerals in sequential order?

ASSIGNMENTS

1. Have students bring in a collection of 100 items.
2. Break collections down into ten groups of 100 items.

EVALUATE THE LESSON

1. Do students see the relationship between 3 and 30, between 4 and 4 sets of 10 or 40?
2. Do they understand that if they sequence the numbers 1-10, when they open the yellow rectangles, the numbers 10-100 will already be sequenced?
3. Can students tell me why Zero is our Hero?

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