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This post has been co-written with Ben Wolfson, a full-time educator and assistant principal in the USA.
You and your students will love this new Acorn Comparing Numbers Worksheet!
Fall marks the end of the beautiful freedom of summer and the start of formal schooling for most kindergartners. However, it can be a magical time in your classroom as the weather is warm enough to get outside for academics, from scientific observation of the changing leaves to counting and grouping the numerous objects that fall to the ground. It’s easy, therefore, to bring a feeling of these outdoor activities into your centers, and this squirrel and acorn themed fall theme numbers activity is a great tool for practicing their number sense.
Teaching Number Comparison
It’s likely that most kindergartners will walk into your classroom knowing how to say the number words in sequence. This will have been taught either by well-meaning parents or their preschool teachers. Your job is to help them realize that these words have special meanings, and that each number name also has an order of magnitude associated with it. Simple counting exercise can help students develop their one to one correspondence between the name of a number and the number of items it refers to. You can then keep the counting objects to show students how to construct greater than and lesser than comparisons. The key piece is to remind that the size of the object is irrelevant; they are only comparing the number.
Preparing This Fall Theme Numbers Activity
For this activity you will need:
Paper
Printer
Writing or coloring tools to mark the answer
Optional: laminator
If you don’t have the materials needed, don’t sweat! You can get it delivered to your doorstep really quickly with Amazon Prime. You can get a 30-day free trial here.
Scaffolding With Acorn Comparing Numbers Worksheet
This cute acorn themed comparing numbers activity is a great review activity. On each card, the students need to pick the acorn that satisfies the equation of being greater than and lesser than the value of the acorn that the squirrel is holding. You can help students develop this number comparison skill with some of these scaffolding activities:
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Use real acorns – for those students struggling with the abstract concept behind these cards, try bringing in a bunch of actual acorns for them to count. They will quickly begin to see the size difference in the piles and be able to associate those with the magnitude of the different numbers.
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Use a number line – number lines are a student’s best math tool from kindergarten all the way through middle school. The visual representation of numerical magnitude, from single digits through complex fractions, helps students to understand the value of each digit in comparison to each other. In this fall theme numbers activity, give students a number line from 1 to 10 and have them find each acorn’s number on it. They should then be able to visually tell which numbers are greater than and lesser than others.
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Create their own cards – scaffolding should also include plans for students who quickly master these acorns comparing numbers worksheet. Start by making it a self checking exercise, where you laminate the card and write the correct answer on the back. Once students can quickly get the correct answer, give them a set of squirrels holding acorns (print out a spare set and white out the numbers) and have them construct their own cards to challenge a partner or an adult in the room.
Looking for more ways to master the greater than and lesser than symbols? Grab my Comparing Numbers Worksheet Pack!
This pack contains 45 b&w worksheets perfect for homework, morning work, fast finishers, or no-prep math centers in the classroom.
Some of the worksheets included:
– Comparing numerals to 5 and to 10
– Count and compare to 5 and to 10
– Cut and paste the alligator signs to compare the numbers
– Fill in the words (greater than, lesser than, etc) to make the sentence true
– Compare and color the set with more/less
– Spin, write and compare
– Draw a set with more/less than the amount shown
– Choose the correct symbol to compare the 2 numbers
and many more!
Check it out here 🙂
More Themed Centers Perfect for Fall:
My Fall Leaves and Acorns Themed Centers is a variety pack of 10 games focused on early literacy, math and fine motor skills.
These are the games included:
1) Acorn Beginning Sound Clip Cards – choose the correct first letter of the object shown
2) Acorn Alphabet Match – match the top (lowercase letter) and bottom (uppercase letter) of the acorns correctly
3) Acorn Pre Primer Sight Words Cards – includes 24 of the first 40 pre primer sight words. Choose from matching uppercase only, lowercase only or uppercase to lowercase.
4) Acorn Shape Tracing Mats – Draw out the different shapes or fill in the shape with playdough or some other small manipulative.
5) Fall Leaves Count and Match to 10 – match the numbers of leaves on the tree to the card
6) Fall Leaves Patterns – 3 different levels included ABAB, AABAAB, ABCABC
7) Fall Leaves Alphabet Sort – child will sort letter cards into upper or lowercase
8) Acorn Shape Matching Clip Cards – choose the correct shape that is shown on the acorn
9) Fall Leaves Number Fun 1-10 Sheets – trace, write, and form the number then count and color in the ten frame.
10) Acorn Tracing Lines – 4 different line shapes for fine motor practice.
Check it out in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Fun Books About Squirrels:
Other Fall Printables You’ll Love:
1) Fall Printable Worksheets Pack – 50-page pack for your little one to practice letter recognition, writing, counting, tracing, coloring and so much more.
2) Fall Leaves Number Sorting – Sort out the leaves and find which numbered tree they came from to practice number recognition, reading number words, and count with ten frames.
3) Fall Leaves Pick and Cover Letters – Pick a letter card then find and cover it on the playing mat.
4) Count and Compare Acorns – Your child will count and compare the groups of acorns to help the squirrel chose the bigger one.
5) Acorn Tracing Lines – Practice fine motor skills with these 4 different acorn-themed worksheets to help the squirrel grab the acorn!
6) Scarecrow Sums to 10 – So quick to set up in just a few minutes, you can sit back and relax while your preschooler or kindergartener has fun learning to solve simple sums to 10.
7) Scarecrow Number Tracing Strips – Combine fine motor practice with early math skills in this scarecrow-themed game to practice writing numbers 1 to 10.
8) Scarecrow Arrange By Size – Develop early math skills with these 3 scarecrow-themed image sets to arrange from smallest to biggest.
Classroom Tools To Make This Even More Fun:
Browse My Most Popular Math Printables:
1) Parking Cars Tracing Lines – More than 10 different tracing line patterns to choose from, all of which help with pencil control.
2) Scarecrow Arrange By Size – 3 different scarecrow-themed image sets that they will arrange from smallest to biggest.
3) Bumblebee Addition Game – Solve the sum and help the bee land on the correct flower!
4) Farm Shapes Mats – Use playdough, pompoms, stickers etc to learn 2D shapes.
5) Popsicle Stick Number Formation – Kids will love forming the numbers 1 to 10 when ice cream and popsicles are involved!
6) Valentines Printable Worksheets Pack – 50 pages of mixed literacy and math activities.
7) Zoo Animals Number Puzzle Strips – Complete these cute puzzles and learn the numbers 1 to 20.
8) Counting Colorful Bugs – This printable book will help kids count to 10 while also learning about color words.
9) Humpty Dumpty Numbers – In this printable game, your students will practice number recognition using 1 dice or simple addition when using 2 dice.
10) Build A Number Santa – Match the number to the correct number word, tally mark and domino to form a Santa Claus
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