Kindergarten · Number
Ways to Make 5
Five is the most important number in early mathematics. Humans have five fingers on each hand, making 5 a natural benchmark for grouping and comparison. Understanding 'five-ness' — all the ways to make 5, what 5 looks like in different arrangements, how 5 relates to larger numbers — is the foundation of computational fluency. A child who truly knows 5 can decompose any number to 10 with ease.
LESSON VIDEO
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Lesson video
A short walkthrough to play in class or assign for flipped/at-home viewing.
WHAT STUDENTS WILL LEARN
✓Recognize quantities to 5 perceptually (subitize a group of 5 or fewer at a glance)
✓Use concrete materials to find all the ways to make 5 (e.g., 4 and 1, 3 and 2, 5 and 0)
✓Connect fingers as a counting tool — groups of 5 on each hand
✓Compare quantities to 10 using language: more than, fewer than, the same as
✓Understand that Traditional First Peoples counting often used groups of 5
BUILDS ON