Okay, so I’ve been to Aldi again

Okay so I’ve been to Aldi again! They just happened to have a perfect pre-Easter or post-Easter Spot book. I had to buy it. It’s a lift the flap picture counting book but with a few special features.

Special features include:

  • the possibility of developing rich positional language, such as behind, under, up, in, inside, among, as well as ‘first’ and ‘last’.
  • We are told that there are 6 eggs altogether so we can count on to see how many are found, or back to see how many are left. Either way we are breaking the counting sequence and counting on or back from different starting numbers.
  • The idea of the ’empty set’ is introduced, leaving the count unchanged showing what happens when zero is added or subtracted from a number.
  • The last page poses a problem about sharing. Spot and Helen Hippo save an egg for Mum so I can’t help wondering how two characters shared 5 eggs. Is this is a segue into fractions, equal or unequal sized groups? I’d toss this one over to the students to solve.

Use this book before or after Easter. Students will be excited either way, anticipating faster or retelling their faster experiences.

You all know how much students and I love Post-it notes. Why not let students plan and map their own Easter egg hunt for Spot? A school map could be used, or students could make their own classroom map and decide how many eggs, how many hiding places and how many eggs in each hiding place. Swapping maps and following directions could be a part of this.

Anyway, have fun and enjoy your break.