Skip Counting

Skip Counting lesson plan

Skip along with number sense, numeration, multiplication, and division! Explore skip counting and the concept of multiples in a colorful new way with Crayola® Color Switchers™ Markers .

  • 1.

    Skip counting is a fun and valuable math skill. It helps you get to know numbers better, recognize patterns, and learn how multiplication and division work.

  • 2.

    Create a number grid using Crayola Color Switchers Markers. Write numerals from 1 to 100 in rows of 10 across a large piece of paper. If you like, you may want to draw a grid of 10 rows of 10 large squares before you write the numbers, so they will be evenly spaced.

  • 3.

    <STRONG>Skip count by tens</STRONG>, Flip the marker and apply the special color switcher to write over each number you say as you count, 10, 20, 30…. All of the numbers you traced over are called multiples of 10.

  • 4.

    Do you notice a color pattern on your number grid? (All of the tens are a different color going down the far right column.) What else is the same about all of those numbers in the right column? (All of these numbers are answers to multiplication problems in which one factor is 10. All of these numbers can also be divided evenly by 10.) Multiples of 10 really are special!

  • 5.

    Now <STRONG>skip count by fives</STRONG>, using a different Color Switchers Marker to write over each number as you count, 5, 10, 15, 20…. When you get to a number that is already written over, like 10 or 20, draw a box around it with your Marker. All of

  • 6.

    What do you notice when you count by fives? (Every other number is one of the same numbers you counted when you counted by tens. So all of the multiples of 10 are also included in the multiples of five. All of the multiples of five are answers to multipli

  • 7.

    Mathematical patterns stand out when you color-code them with Color Switchers! What other patterns can you discover?

Benefits

  • Children design number grids to explore the concept of multiples.
  • Children skip count by different numbers to identify the multiples of a specific number.
  • Children analyze number patterns created as they highlight numbers with Crayola Color Switchers Markers.

Adaptations

  • Create new number grids to explore skip counting by other numbers, such as twos, fours, and sixes. Create another grid to count by threes, sixes, and nines. What patterns do you notice? Which numbers are multiples in more than one group?
  • Face challenging multiplication and division facts. Skip count by sevens and eights on a new number grid. Get to know the multiples of seven and eight.
  • Create a number grid in which you highlight multiples of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Notice the numbers you did not write over. These numbers are called <EM>prime numbers</EM>. They are not multiples of any number. They will never be an answer to a multiplication problem (except for the number times one) and they cannot be divided evenly by any number.