Counting Collection Widget

A counting collection is a set of objects, such as shells, buttons or bears, that learners count one at a time and then answer "How many?". It's the counting-collections routine from kindergarten math, on screen.

While a learner counts, Berdee notes _how_ they counted: whether they touched each object once, kept track of what they'd counted, and answered with the last number without recounting. Those are the things you watch for in a one-on-one counting interview. With this widget you see them for every child, every day, on each student's attempt page.

You choose one picture and how many objects there are (1 to 20). Berdee places that picture the number of times you asked for, so the collection always has exactly that many. A generated picture of "eight shells" can come out with seven or nine.

Select the counting collection on the canvas and click the floating ⚙ Configure button to set it up. The mode, picture, count, arrangement and scoring are all there, with a live preview.

Five ways to count

Each mode is a counting strategy kindergarten classrooms use.

Tap to count

Learners tap each object once. A counted object gets a check mark (or its number), and Berdee says the next number. When every object is counted, How many? appears and learners tap a numeral.

_Example: 8 scattered shells. A learner taps them one by one, hears "one, two, three… eight", and answers 8._

Turn on Mark a group of 10 (here or in Count, then hide) so learners can find 10, then count the rest. The first 10 objects a learner taps each get a thick ring around them as well as their mark. On the 10th, the rings pulse once and a 10 tag appears beside Start over. Objects tapped after that get a square tag in your mark color and no ring. Any 10 objects make the group: in a line learners usually take the first 10, and in rows of 5 they often take two rows.

Step-by-step: Count a collection of shells, then say how many.

Move to count (a counting mat)

The mat has two halves: Not counted and Counted. Learners move each object across, and Berdee says the next number as it lands. Moving objects is the easiest way for a young child to keep track of which ones they've counted.

_Example: a counting mat with 6 bears, for learners who lost track when tapping a scattered collection._

Fill to count (egg carton, 5-frames or a 10-frame)

Learners put each object into its own section of an egg carton or a row of 5-frames, one object per section. Berdee adds as many cartons or frames as the count needs.

_Example: an egg carton and 9 small eggs, so each egg gets its own cup._

Choose 10-frame, then the rest to show a teen number as 10 and some more. Each object goes into the next empty box of one 10-frame, left to right, top row first. Once the frame is full, its outline glows and the rest go into dashed spots in rows below it, so 13 ends as a full 10-frame and 3 more. If a learner drags an object onto a spot below while the frame still has an empty box, it slides into the frame instead. Set The rest go to In a second 10-frame if you'd rather show the rest in a frame of their own.

_Example: 13 eggs and a 10-frame. A learner fills the frame, puts 3 below it, and answers 13. Then ask "How many are in the full frame?"._

Count, then hide

Learners count as usual. Then a cover goes over the collection and the question becomes How many were there?. Because the objects are hidden, learners have to answer with the number they ended on instead of counting again. That is the step where a child shows they know the last number tells how many.

_Example: count 5 apples, then answer how many there were after they're covered._

Watch and judge

Learners press Watch me count. The widget counts the collection, pointing at one object at a time and saying a number for each, then says the total ("There are 7!") and asks Did I count right?. You choose how it counts:

• Counts correctly
• Says two numbers for one object (you pick which object)
• Skips an object (you pick which object)
• Says the wrong last number: counts every object correctly, then gives the wrong total

Learners answer Yes or No, and can press Watch again first. Add a text widget if you want to frame the question, such as "Watch carefully. Is the count right?".

_Example: 7 buttons, counted with "Says two numbers for one object" on object 4. A learner who says No because one button got two numbers is right._

Settings

Make the widget big enough for a small finger. If the objects or sections get too small to tap easily, the Configure dialog warns you. Make the widget bigger, use fewer objects, or try another arrangement. A 10-frame fill of 20 needs room for the collection, the frame and two rows below it, so give it a tall widget.

The Configure dialog also tells you when a 10-frame or a group of 10 has 10 objects or fewer (there's nothing after the 10), and when the group or mark color is hard to see on the background.

What learners see and do

• Counting: tap an object to count it. In Move and Fill modes, tapping an object moves it to the next spot on the counted half or into the next empty section. Dragging works too, but it's never required.
• Tapping a counted object again doesn't count it twice. It gives a gentle "already counted!" wiggle (unless you turned that off), and Berdee notes the repeat.
• I'm done lets a learner stop before every object is counted. Any objects they missed glow with "Did you count these?", and they can keep counting or answer anyway.
• I know! lets a learner who sees the amount at a glance answer without counting. Children who can see a small amount at once shouldn't be made to count it. Your summary shows they answered at a glance.
• Answering: five big numeral buttons appear, and they always include the right answer. Each one says its number when tapped. The right answer isn't always in the middle, so learners can't guess the middle button without counting.
• Start over clears the marks so the learner can count again.
• Keyboard: Tab moves through the objects in reading order, and Enter counts the one in focus. Screen readers hear each object's name and how many have been counted so far.

Every mode can be done with taps alone, so learners never have to drag.

What you see on the attempt page

On a student's attempt page, each counting collection shows one line in the counting interview's words. For a learner who counted well:

Counted 8 of 8 · one tap each · answered 8 · didn't recount ✓

For a learner who needs support:

Counted 7 of 8 · tapped 1 object twice · answered 9 · recounted when asked

The line can also say that a learner started over, answered at a glance ("I know!"), or didn't answer.

With Mark a group of 10 or 10-frame, then the rest, a learner who got to 10 gets a line that says so:

Marked a group of 10 · then 3 more · one tap each · answered 13 · didn't recount ✓

Filled the 10-frame · then 3 more below · one tap each · answered 13 · didn't recount ✓

A learner who marked 10, tapped I'm done, and answered 13 without tapping the rest used 10 and some more to find the total:

Marked a group of 10 · didn't mark the other 3 · answered 13 · didn't recount

A learner who stopped before 10 gets the usual "Counted 7 of 13" line. The group is worked out from the order the learner counted in, so it never changes the grade.

If the learner's first answer wasn't the one they ended on, the line ends by saying so. A learner who answered 9, saw your hint, and then answered 8:

Counted 8 of 8 · one tap each · answered 8 · didn't recount · first answered 9

A learner who changed their answer more than once shows the path, such as "first answered 9, then 7". If they answered and then pressed Start over without answering again, the line says "didn't answer · earlier answered 9".

The ✓ appears only when the learner's first answer was right and they counted every object, each one once, and didn't recount. The Attempts column shows "—" for a counting collection: the widget records every tap so the summary can say how the learner counted, and that tap count isn't a number of tries. Recounted when asked means that once "How many?" appeared, the learner counted again or pressed Start over, which often means they don't yet know that the last number tells how many.

For Watch and judge, the line says which count the learner watched and what they said, for example "Watched a count that skips object 3 · said it was wrong ✓". A learner who first said "Yes" and then changed to "No" gets "· first said it was right" at the end.

Grading

The widget is correct when the learner's answer equals the number of objects. In Watch and judge, it's correct when the learner says "Yes" to a correct count or "No" to a count with a mistake. Points are all or nothing.

How a learner counted never changes their grade. Repeat taps, finishing early, recounting and an earlier wrong answer are information for you, not penalties for the child: only the answer the learner ends on is graded. The grade is worked out by Berdee from the lesson, not on the learner's device. A collection with Answer set to None is never graded: it never holds up a scene, never counts toward a container, and its row on the attempt page says Not graded, with the counting summary beside it.

See Grading and Score for how a scene's questions are submitted and totalled.

Behaviors and logic

The counting collection reports these for conditions and variables:

• Answer: the numeral the learner chose
• Objects counted and Objects not counted
• Repeat taps: how many times the learner tapped an object they had already counted
• Recounted when asked and Answered without counting (yes or no)
• Judgment: "right" or "wrong", in Watch and judge
• Is correct and Is answered
• Made a group of 10 (yes once 10 objects are marked or the 10-frame is full) and Objects after the 10, with Mark a group of 10 or a 10-frame fill

It has these events of its own:

• On Object Counted runs each time the learner counts a new object. A repeat tap doesn't run it, and Watch and judge doesn't offer it.
• On Answer runs each time the learner answers (or judges the count), after the properties above have updated, so a condition on it sees the finished count.
• On Group of 10 runs when the learner marks their 10th object or fills the 10-frame, with Mark a group of 10 or a 10-frame fill. It runs once per count, and again after Start over.

Its actions are Start over, Hide the collection and Reveal the collection (to build your own count-then-hide with buttons), and Play the count (Watch and judge).

Worked example: send repeat tappers to a counting mat

Some children tap the same object twice because they lose track of what they've counted. Moving each object across a counting mat helps with that. To give those children extra practice:

1. On scene 1, add a counting collection in Tap to count mode with 8 scattered shells.
2. Make a scene 2 with a counting collection in Move to count mode (a counting mat), and a scene 3 for the rest of the lesson.
3. Select the scene 1 collection and press ⚡ Behaviors. Add a behavior on On Answer that navigates to scene 2, with the condition _Repeat taps is greater than 0_.
4. Add a second behavior on On Answer that navigates to scene 3, with the condition _Repeat taps equals 0_.

Learners who counted each shell once go straight on. Learners who tapped a shell twice get the counting mat first. See Events, Actions, and Conditions for how several behaviors on one event work together.

Worked example: find 10, then count

The kindergarten "Find 10 to count" activity asks learners to circle a group of 10, then count them all. To build it:

1. Add a counting collection in Tap to count mode with 14 triangles In a line, and turn on Mark a group of 10.
2. Add narration such as "Find 10 triangles. Tap them. Then tap the rest."
3. To ask about the group, add a text widget with "How many are in your group?", hidden at first, and a behavior on On Group of 10 that shows it.

Learners tap 10 triangles, see the rings and the 10 tag, tap the other 4, and answer 14. The attempt page shows "Marked a group of 10 · then 4 more".

Accessibility

• Counted objects are marked with a shape (a check or a number), not only with color. In a marked group of 10, the group has rings and round marks and the rest have square tags with no ring, and the 10 tag names the group in words.
• Every mode works with taps alone, and with the keyboard.
• Screen readers hear each object's name and the running count. With a group of 10 they hear "square, in the group of 10, 7 of 13 marked", then "That's a group of 10", then "square, 1 more after 10, 11 of 13 marked". In a 10-frame fill they hear "in the 10-frame, 6 of 10 boxes filled", then "The 10-frame is full", then "below the frame, 3 below".
• The ring pulse and the frame glow are skipped when the device asks for reduced motion. The 10 tag still appears.
• Speech uses the device's built-in voice. On a device without one, the widget stays quiet and everything else works.

Related

• Choose the Right Widget
• Widget State and Actions
• Events, Actions, and Conditions
• Grading and Score