In the first half of this module, students identify measurable attributes of objects in terms of length, weight, and capacity.  Students learn words such as small, big, short, tall, empty, full, heavy, and light so that they will have the vocabulary needed to describe objects (PK.MD.1).  The comparison of length, weight, and capacity naturally leads to discussions about quantity and number.  In the second half, measurement is connected to quantity as students reason if there are enough, more than, less than, or the same number of objects in a set using matching and counting strategies (PK.CC.5).  Comparing concrete sets leads to comparing quantities and abstract numbers.  Children will also focus on identifying first and last in quantities up to 5 and 10 in different configurations (PK.CC.6).

Module 5 is the culmination of children’s work with number in the Pre-K year.  Throughout Modules 1 and 3, they had extensive counting experiences with numbers 0–10.  In Module 4, they examined the relationships between numbers 1–5 through comparison.  In Module 5, children transition from the comparative concept of more (4 apples is more than 1 apple) to the concept of addition (3 apples and 1 more apple make 4 apples).  They are ready to begin work with operations, focusing on addition and subtraction stories with numbers 1 to 5.  Students will also learn to write numerals 0-5 and explore patterns in this final module.

Module 1 capitalizes on the energy and excitement young students have as they enter their first day of Pre-K by providing a playful and active yet carefully sequenced structure through which children progress.  In this module, we set up a friendly learning environment in which children have sustained interaction with four core ideas, collectively referred to as the number core:  rote counting (the number word list), one-to-one correspondence (one object paired with one number word), cardinality (how many in a set), and written numerals.  Throughout the module, children have experiences that help them make critical connections between these four understandings.

In Module 2, in the context of classroom play, children learn to identify, describe, sort, compare, and create two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) shapes and objects. Children develop vocabulary to describe the relative position of objects (e.g., top, bottom, up, down, in front of, behind, over, under, and next to), building foundational spatial reasoning abilities. In Module 1, students developed an understanding of numbers to 5. In Module 2, students practice these counting skills in the context of geometry (counting sides, corners, a group of triangles, etc.).

Module 3 challenges students to build on their work with numbers through 5 to make sense of and count groups of 0, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 objects. Students also continue their work with the number core in the following ways (PK.CC.1–4): Rote counting (the number word list up to 15); one-to-one correspondence (one object paired with one number word from 0 to 10); cardinality (how many in a set of up to 10 objects); andnumber recognition (matching written numerals 0, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 to quantities). Throughout the module, children participate in engaging experiences that help them make critical connections between these four understandings.

This 30 minute video features a discussion between NYS Commissioner of Education John B. King Jr., David Coleman (contributing author to the Common Core) and Kate Gerson (a Sr. Fellow with the Regents Research Fund) on the first 20 paragraphs of Martin Luther King Jr.‰'s ‰"Letter from Birmingham Jail.‰" This conversation represents one of the ways a group of educators might prepare for close reading of text with students. This behind-the-scenes discourse represents the kind of dialogue teachers can have as they build their own fluency and familiarity with a text before diving into it with students. After watching this video, educators might ask themselves: Why are conversations like these important? What role can adult discussions of text play in teacher prep? Participants might also continue the conversation King, Coleman, and Gerson are having by picking up where they left off and engaging deeply around paragraphs 21-30. What happens next in the text? What is King ‰"up to‰" for those paragraphs?