Counting Mice (Counting backward)

The Book

Mouse Count

Written & illustrated by Ellen Stoll Walsh, published by HMH Books

This charming story supports early maths and literacy development. As a hungry snake finds and counts ten mice one by one, children are invited to practise counting forward and backward, reinforcing the concept of matching quantities with numbers (AC9MFN01 – Foundation Year, Mathematics).

The story has clear features of a narrative, which create opportunities for children to share ideas about events, such as the problem and its resolution, and the characters in the text (AC9EFLE02 – Foundation Year, English). Children can also retell the story through drawing, role-playing, or sequencing events, building their comprehension and creative expression (AC9EFLE05 – Foundation Year, English).

With its simple text, bold illustrations, and engaging plot, Mouse Count is an ideal resource for integrating numeracy and literacy in early childhood learning.

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Resource creator

Steven Huynh

Subject

Mathematics,

Level

Foundation,

Description

In this lesson, students focus on counting backward using the story Mouse Count. After reading, they use hands-on activities to remove mice from the jar, practising backwards counting. A one-on-one activity helps assess their ability to count backward from 10.

Learning Intentions

• We are learning to count backward from 10.

Successful Criteria

• I can count backward as mice come out of the jar.
• I can show the correct number of mice by removing extras.

Curriculum Alignment

AC9MFN01 9.0 (Mathematics Foundation): Name, represent and order numbers including zero to at least 20, using physical and virtual materials and numerals

• responding to a request to collect a quantity of objects or reading a numeral and selecting the associated quantity of items from a collection to match the number required; for example, collecting 9 paint brushes after hearing the word ‘nine’
• recognising the order in the sequence of numbers to (20) and identifying the number that is “one less” than a given number and the number that is “one more”; for example, playing instructive card games that involve reading and ordering number cards; using counting songs, story books and rhymes to establish the forwards and backwards counting sequence of numbers in the context of active counting activities
• understanding and using terms such as “first”, “second”, “third”, … “fifth”… to indicate ordinal position in a sequence; for example, creating a number track using cards with the numerals zero to (20) and describing positions using terms such as first, last, before, after, between
• recognising, writing and reading numerals written on familiar objects; for example, in images, text or illustrations in story books; writing a numeral on a container as a label to show how many objects it contains
• connecting quantities to number names and numerals when reading and reciting stories and playing counting games or determining and reasoning about the size of sets of objects within First Nation Australians’ instructive games; for example, Segur etug from Mer Island in the Torres Strait region

Materials

Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Whiteboard or poster with a large jar
Paper mouse cutouts (for teacher)

Instructions

Warm-Up
Count together aloud from 1 to 10, then 10 to 1. Use fingers to show counting backward.
Story Read-Aloud
Read Mouse Count and highlight when the mice begin escaping the jar. Ask:
“What’s happening now?”
“How many mice are left?”
Count backward together as each mouse escapes.
Whole-Class Jar Counting
Use the jar on the board and 10 paper mice. Start with all mice in the jar. One at a time, remove a mouse and count backward:
“10 mice… 9 mice… 8 mice…”
Takeaway: Counting backward helps us find out how many are left when we take some away from a group.
Worksheet Activity
Give each child the jar worksheet and 10 mouse cutouts. Ask them to put all 10 mice in the jar. Then say:
“Oh no! We only need 7 mice. Can you take some out?”
Prompt them to count backward from 10 to 7 as they remove the mice.
One-on-One Activity
Sit with each student or small group. Say:
“Let’s put 10 mice in your jar.”
Then: “I only need 7 mice in the jar. Can you help me fix it?”
Watch as the student counts backward to remove 3 mice. Prompt as needed and check for understanding.

Extensions

Challenge students by starting with a different number, e.g., “Start with 8 mice and make it 5.”
Introduce simple subtraction language: “10 take away 3 equals 7.”