Run sheet

The Number 0

Grade 1 · Lesson 2 · 23 slides · blocked practice

The big idea

Zero is a number too. It is how many are there when there are none.

Slide by slide

#	On the screen	What you say
1	Today — WARM-UP	Point at the five parts. Name where we are.
2	How many? ● ● ● ● ● ●	Boards up on three. This is yesterday's work — Numbers to 10. Do not help each other; I need to see what each of you kept.
3	6 answer — own slide	Show me. Everyone at once. Check your own board against this.
4	Today — I DO	We are at I DO. Boards down and flat.
5	Zero is a number too. It is how many are there when there are none.	Read this out. Do not explain it yet — the example explains it.
6	[ ● ● ● ] = 3 build 1 of 5	Three counters in the box.
7	[ ● ● ● ] = 3 [ ● ● ] = 2 build 2 of 5	I take one away. Now two.
8	[ ● ● ● ] = 3 [ ● ● ] = 2 [ ● ] = 1 build 3 of 5	I take another. Now one.
9	[ ● ● ● ] = 3 [ ● ● ] = 2 [ ● ] = 1 [ ] = ? build 4 of 5	I take the last one. The box is empty — but I still need a number.
10	[ ● ● ● ] = 3 [ ● ● ] = 2 [ ● ] = 1 [ ] = ? [ ] = 0 build 5 of 5	Empty is zero. We write it 0.
11	How many birds are on the branch? (an empty branch)	Now the same thing on a new one. Watch — nothing on your boards.
12	There are none. None has a number, and the number is 0. 0 answer — own slide	I say every step aloud as I write it. The board keeps all of it.
13	Today — WE DO	We are at WE DO. Boards up.
14	How many apples in the empty basket?	Boards up. Write the numeral, not the word.
15	0 answer — own slide	Boards up. Everyone at once — check yours against this.
16	Count down with me: 3, 2, 1, ___	What comes after 1 when we are counting down?
17	0 answer — own slide	Boards up. Everyone at once — check yours against this.
18	Today — YOU DO	We are at YOU DO. Boards down, books open.
19	Dimensions 1A — page 7	Open your books to this page. Wait — do not start yet.
20	Do — page 7	These are the book's own problems, same type as the three we have just done. Work them in the book.
21	Today — CLOSURE	Last part. Answers up.
22	“Is there none, or is it just hard to see?”	This is the question to ask yourself every time, not just today.
23	Show me zero on your board.	One last board. Then we are finished.

Mini whiteboards, by segment

Segment	MWB	Time	Boards	What to hold
WARM-UP	retrieval	3-5 min	BOARDS UP	Question up, boards up on the count. Everyone shows at once — a child who waits to see a neighbour's board has not retrieved anything. Grade 1 may drop this if the previous lesson was a review — from Grade 4 it is not optional.
I DO	none — they watch	3-4 min	boards down	Boards DOWN and flat. This segment is watching, and a child writing is not watching. Say so once at the start of the year and then hold it.
WE DO	primary use	5-6 min	BOARDS UP	One step, then boards up. Do not let them run ahead to the answer — the point is that everybody is on the same step at the same time.
YOU DO	on the sheet	4-5 min	boards down	Boards down. This is the book's problems, worked where the work will be kept.
CLOSURE	answers displayed	2-3 min	boards down	Answers on the board, children check their own. Mark nothing here.

Watch for
Children write nothing at all instead of 0 — a blank board is not an answer of zero and must not be accepted as one. That distinction is the lesson.