Dino Counting – One less concept

The Book

Ten Little Dinosaurs

Written by Mike Brownlow, illustrated by Simon Rickerty, published by Orchard Books

This delightful rhyming adventure captivates young readers with its playful text and vibrant illustrations. The story counts down from 10 to 1 as a group of mischievous little dinosaurs encounters various adventures and challenges, blending humour with basic counting skills (ACMNA001, AC9MFN01 – Foundation Year, Mathematics). It connects number names, numerals, and the number of dinosaurs (ACMNA002 – Foundation Year, Mathematics), making it a valuable tool for early numeracy. The rhymes and repetitive patterns not only entertain but also foster language development and phonemic awareness (ACELA1439 – Foundation Year, English). With its engaging narrative and educational focus, Ten Little Dinosaurs is a perfect read-aloud choice for young children, combining fun and learning in one enjoyable package.

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Resource creator

Lian Khanh

Subject

Mathematics,

Level

Foundation,

Description

This activity helps kids explore counting backwards through the one-less concept, using the number line and our beautiful Minecraft design dinos.

This activity works well when your children already can:

count (forward) in sequence,
understand how a number line works.

Learning Intentions

• Students are learning to count backwards through the one-less number concept.

Successful Criteria

• Students can count backwards using the dinosaurs.

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

ACMNA001 8.4 (Mathematics Foundation): Establish understanding of the language and processes of counting by naming numbers in sequences, initially to and from 20, moving from any starting point

• reading stories from other cultures featuring counting in sequence to assist students to recognise ways of counting in local languages and across cultures
• identifying the number words in sequence, backwards and forwards, and reasoning with the number sequences, establishing the language on which subsequent counting experiences can be built
• developing fluency with forwards and backwards counting in meaningful contexts, including stories and rhymes
• understanding that numbers are said in a particular order and there are patterns in the way we say them

Materials

Magnetic dinosaur cutouts (download below)
A number line from 1 to 10

Instructions

Place all the dino cutouts on the number line drawn on the teacher’s white board.
Read Ten Little Dinosaurs by Mike Brownlow, pause after each event/page (e.g., “10 dinosaurs, then one gets scared, now there are 9”).
Move away the dinosaur closest to the arrow of the number line, say “One less!“
Explicitly explain the position of the dinosaur closest to the arrow on the number line (e.g., We can tell there are 9 dinosaurs now by looking at the position of the dinosaur closest to the arrow).
Encourage children to say the number that is one less each time with you.
Once they get the pattern, allow them to have a go at the one-less numbers and reasoning, “Now there are…, because…”
Explicitly conceptualise counting backwards through the one-less number pattern.

For Practice

Kids practise saying the number every time one dino is moved away (i.e., T moves one. SS says 9; T moves another one. SS says 8; continuing until the remaining one).

Extensions

The materials in this activity can also be used for these following activities:

How many dinosaurs here? Focus: Counting the given collection
Can you grab me 5 dinosaurs out of this bowl? Focus: Collecting a quantity requested
What is the number after this number? Focus: Identifying the number that is one more