As they proceed, they count one 3, two 3s, three 3s, etc. Students listen to or read Grandfather Tang's Story by Ann Tompert and then use tangrams to make the shape-changing fox fairies as the story progresses. Students are then encouraged to do a retelling of the story with tangrams or to invent their own tangram characters and stories. Students read The Cat in the Hat or Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss and identify the pattern of events in the book. Students could create their own books with similar patterns.
Students collect leaves and note the patterns of the veins.
They look at how the veins branch off on each side of the center vein and observe that their branches are smaller copies of the original vein pattern. Students collect feathers, ferns, Queen Anne's lace, broccoli, or cauliflower and note in each case how the pattern of the original is repeated in miniature in each of its branches or clusters. Students listen for rhythmic patterns in musical selections and use clapping, instruments, and movement to simulate those patterns. Investigate ways to represent and classify data according to attributes, such as shape or color, and relationships, and discuss the purpose and usefulness of such classification. Students sort themselves by month of birth, and then within each group by height or birth date.