Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v5 - Grade R

Lesson Video

This page supports the lesson note with a companion video and a short classroom-ready summary.

For class groups and homework, share this lesson page so learners also get the summary, objectives, and full lesson context.

Performance objectives

• Count objects up to 5
• Know the numbers 0 to 5
• Show numbers using fingers and objects
• See which group has more or less

Lesson summary

Numbers are all around us! Understanding numbers 0 to 5 is the first step in understanding the world of mathematics. This week, we will learn how to count, recognise, and show these numbers in different ways. Knowing these numbers is important because we use them every day when we count our toys, share sweets with our friends, or even know how many fingers we have on one hand! In South Africa, being able to count is important for everyday life – from buying bread at the spaza shop to knowing how many oranges your family needs for the week.

Lesson notes

Counting: Counting means saying the numbers in order, starting from 1 (or 0, depending on what we are counting). Each number represents a quantity. We need to point to each object only once while counting to get the correct number.

Numerals: These are the symbols we use to write numbers. For example, "1" is the numeral for the number one.

Representing Numbers: Numbers can be shown in different ways. We can use our fingers, draw pictures, or use objects like stones or crayons.

Comparing Numbers: Comparing means looking at two or more groups of objects and deciding which group has more (a bigger number of objects) or less (a smaller number of objects). If the groups have the same number of objects, we say they are equal.

Worked example

Example 1: Counting to 3

Imagine we have 3 mangoes.

Let's count them:

Point to the first mango and say "One".

Point to the second mango and say "Two".

Point to the third mango and say "Three".

We have 3 mangoes! The last number we said is how many mangoes we have.

Example 2: Representing 2 with Fingers

To show the number 2 using our fingers, we can hold up two fingers on one hand. It doesn't matter which two fingers we choose! As long as we have two fingers up, we are representing the number

2. Example 3: Representing 0 with objects