Powerful Patterns

• describe number patterns in a hundred chart
• skip count by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s

[Two boys have 4 eyes. Two boys have 2 noses. Two boys have 20 toes.]

What would come next in the pattern 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, …?

[The next number would be 35.]

In the pattern 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, what will come next? And then what?

[The next number will be 12, then 14.]

My pattern is 6, 16, 26, 36, 46. What are the next three numbers in my pattern? How are the numbers changing?

[The next three numbers will be 56, 66, 76. Each number is 10 more than the last number. Students may also suggest that the tens place increases by one in each number.]

Tell about one pattern you found on the hundred chart. How would you describe it to a friend?

[Answers will vary.]

1. Provide each student with a calendar for the present month and ask the students to color one number pattern they notice. After students have had time to find a pattern, call on a volunteer to read her pattern. Then ask what other patterns the students found. See if students are able to replicate the patterns mentioned in class or find new patterns.
2. Provide students with a hundreds chart with the numbers 1, 3, 5, 7 shaded in. Ask students to continue this pattern. You can have students write one sentence at the bottom of the paper telling how they found the pattern or discuss how they found the pattern. [Students may suggest any of the following explanations for how they determined which numbers to color: I colored the odd numbers. I added 2 to each number. I did an AB pattern. I left one box blank and colored the next block.]

• Were students able to connect the Number of People chart to skip counting on the calculator? If not, what could you do next time to help them make the connection?
• Were students able to skip count on the calculators? If not, what was confusing?
• Were students able to describe how numbers changed in a skip counting pattern?
• Which students were able to skip count without calculators?
• Did students make connections to prior experiences, such as adding 10 to a number or calendar patterns? How can I encourage students to make additional connections?
• Did I help students use what they know about patterns to recognize their own mistakes in hundred chart patterns?

1. Analyze how both repeating and growing patterns are generated.
2. Recognize, describe, and extend patterns such as sequences of sounds and shapes or simple numeric patterns and translate from one representation to another.