Grouping I: The goal of this activity is twofold. First, it introduces students to Sketchpad's most important tools and menu commands. Second, it helps students appreciate how grouping objects can make them easier to count, and how the same quantity of objects can be grouped in different ways. In addition, it will help you developed a classroom vocabulary that can be used in Grouping II.

Grouping II: The idea of this activity is for students to appreciate how grouping objects can make them easier to count, and how the same quantity of objects can be grouped in different ways. Younger students might be encouraged to think about how to group objects "evenly," that is, into group sizes that are factors of the total number of objects. The idea that n groups of m is the same as m groups of n (the commutative property of multiplication) can also be explored. Older students might be encouraged to explicitly consider the remainder objects--that is, the number of objects left over after they have been divided into certain group sizes.