Kindergarten Comparing Numbers

[i]dentify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group.”

You can find our 25-page pdf on this lesson at Greater Than or Less Than lesson.  The lesson contains a worksheet and assessment as well as a comprehensive lesson plan.

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Materials List for Kindergarten Comparing Numbers

–bulletin board letters
–Post-it notes
–markers
-various items of similar groupings (we used a group of Jack’s trains, a group of plastic bug toys, a group of minion toys, etc.)
–Greater Than or Less Than lesson

Step 1: Download and complete the worksheets from the Greater Than or Less Than lesson

Here is a sample worksheet from the 25-page lesson:

Step 2: Go over greater than or less than symbols using bulletin board letters and Post-It notes

I started out this lesson by teaching Jack what the greater than or less than signs looked like and how to use them.  We used bulletin board letters and Post-it notes on the wall to practice recognizing which number was greater than the other.  I told Jack to think of the symbol as “gobbling up” the larger number and “pointing” to the smaller number.

Step 3: Set up groups of various items for comparison

Once Jack had a good handle on the number practice, we started to compare groups of items.  We used his toys to make the hands-on project more meaningful to him.

Step 4: Write the number of items in each group on the Post-It notes and choose the correct symbol

I had him first count how many items were in the train group and write the answer with a marker on the Post-It.  Then he counted how many minions were in the other group and he wrote that number on the other Post-It.  Finally he picked the correct symbol to represent the relationship between the two groups.  Just to make it a little more fun, we took the symbol that wasn’t correct, crumpled it up and threw it behind us!

  

  

We continued with the project by comparing a group of dinosaurs and a group of bugs.

  

Then we compared a group of land animals and water animals.

Finally, we compared Jack’s hot dogs that he received when we did the Jack’s Weekly Commission Report project with monkeys he got in a monkeys in a barrel game.

Jack got a lot of practice in this lesson with writing his numbers as well as learning about comparing groups of numbers.  This was good because he is still learning to write a few numbers correctly, sometimes they come out backwards like Winnie the Pooh writes, it’s so cute, lol!

Step 5: Complete the assessment from the Greater Than or Less Than lesson

Here is a sample page from the assessment: