Target Board 1
5 teddy bears
Vocabulary
Colour, red, blue, yellow, green,
size, big, small, medium, top line, bottom
line, middle, at the top, at the bottom,
above, below, underneath, how many?,
altogether, opposite
Types of questions
•How many bears on the page? (5)
•Where is the small red bear?
Possible answers
(1. at the bottom of the page)
(2. at the bottom on the left)
(3. below the big blue bear)
(4. opposite the big yellow bear)
•Where is the medium green bear?
Possible answers
(1. in the middle of the page)
•Where is the big blue bear?
Possible answers
(1. at the top of the page)
(2. at the top on left hand side)
(3. above the small red bear)
(4. opposite the big red bear)
•Where is the big red bear?
Possible answers
(1. at the top)
(2. at the top on the right-hand side)
(3. above the big yellow bear)
(4. opposite the big blue bear)
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Other questions:
•How many red bears on the page?
•How many blue bears on the page?
•How many green bears on the page?
•How many yellow bears on the page?
•How many red and green bears altogether?
•How many red and yellow bears altogether?
•How many big bears on the page?
•How many small bears on the page?
•Which colour bear are there most of?
•Are there more red than blue/yellow/green?
•Which colour has the least number?
Recall activity
The teacher covers any bear and asks the
children question such as, ‘What colour
bear is hidden?’, ‘What size bear is hidden?’
The teacher covers the top line and asks the
children if they can remember what size and
colour bears are hidden. Repeat with the
middle and bottom lines.
Extra activity
The children are given a copy of the target
board and a tray of bears. The teacher asks
them to match the correct size bear to each
picture. Then, the teacher asks questions
such as, ‘Are there more red than green
bears?’ The teacher demonstrates how to do
one-to-one correspondence to answer this
question. The teacher asks similar questions
with the other colours and sizes.
Planet Maths Teacher Resources • Junior Infants
Target Board 2
10 teddy bears
Vocabulary
Size, big, small, medium, colour, red, green,
blue, yellow, how many?, more than, less
than, lines, rows, first line, second line, third
line, same, number, altogether
Types of questions
•How many bears are there on the page?
•How many red bears are there on the
page?
•How many green/yellow/blue bears are
there on the page?
•How many bears in the first line/second
line/third line?
•How many big/small/medium bears are
there on each line?
•Which row has the most bears?
•Which rows/lines has the same number of
bears?
•Name the colour(s) of the bears on the first
line/row (the second line/row, the third
line/row)
•Name the size(s) of the bears on the
second line/row (the first line/row, the third
line/row)
•Name the sizes and colour(s) of the bears
in each row/line.
•How many bears are there altogether on
the first and second lines/rows?
•How many bears are there altogether on
the first and third line/row?
•Where is the small green bear in the first
row? (in between a big green bear and
another big green bear)
•Where is the medium yellow bear? (in the
second row between the big blue bear and
the big red bear)
•Repeat this type of question to consolidate
spatial awareness.
Planet Maths Teacher Resources • Junior Infants 255
Target Board 3
10 teddy bears
Vocabulary
Colour, red, blue, yellow, green, size, big,
small, medium, line, row, column, above,
below, in the middle, first, second, top,
bottom, altogether
Types of questions
The teacher shows the children what a
line/row and column are.
•How many bears are there altogether?
•How many lines/rows of bears are there?
•Name the colour(s) of the bears in each
line.
•Name the sizes of each bear in each line/
column.
•Name the sizes and colour(s) of the bears
in each column.
•How many bears are there in the first/
second line?
•How many bears are there in column 1/
column 2, etc?
•What colour bears are in each line/
column?
•What size bears are in each row/column?
•How many bears are there on the page
altogether?
•Where is the medium red bear? (in
column 1 on the second line)
•Where is the small blue bear? (on the
second line in column 4)
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•Repeat this type of question with the other
bears.
•How many bears are in each line?
•What can we say about each line? (each
line has the same number of bears)
•What can we say about each column?
(each column has the same number of
bears)
Planet Maths Teacher Resources • Junior Infants
Target Board 4
20 teddy bears (Senior Infants)
Vocabulary
Row, column, first, second, third, fourth,
fifth, change, altogether
Types of questions
•How many bears are there on the page?
•How many red/yellow/green/blue bears
are there on the page?
•How many big/small/medium bears are
there on the page?
•How many bears are there in each line/
column?
•How many red/yellow/green/blue bears in
are there in each line/column?
•How many bears are there altogether in
the first and second lines?
•How many bears are there altogether in
the first and second columns?
•If I take 1 bear away in the first line, how
many will I have left on that line?
•If I take 1 bear away in the first column
how many bears will I have left in that
column?
•This question could be repeated taking
away 2, 3, 4 and 5 bears.
Recall activity
Cover a certain number of bears on a line
or in a column with a Post-it and ask the
children if they can remember what colour
or size the hidden bear was? Depending on
their ability this could be repeated covering
more than 1 bear.
Extra activity
The teacher gives each pair of children a
photocopy of the target board and a box of
bears. Their tasks are to:
1. match the bears to the picture.
2. change the colour of the bears.
3. change the size of the bears.
4. change the colour and the size.
Only proceed to the next task when the
children are competent with the previous
task.
Planet Maths Teacher Resources • Junior Infants 257
Target Board 5
Vocabulary (Senior Infants)
Row, line, column, number, digit, before,
after
Types of questions
•The teacher points to each number and
the children identify it.
•How many numbers are on the first line,
second line?
•How many numbers are in column
1/2/3/4/5?
•What do you notice about the top and
bottom line? (they both have the same
number of digits)
• What do you notice about each column?
They all have the same number of digits.
•What numbers are in the top/bottom row?
•Name the numbers in each column.
•The teacher points to any number and asks
the children what number comes before it
on the number line, e.g. the teacher points
to 5 and ask which number comes before
it. (4) This activity could be repeated with
what is 2 before and 2 after a particular
number.
•Add 1 to each number (count forwards)
•Take 1 away from each number (count
backwards)
•The teacher point to a number and asks
the child to count forwards from that
number.
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•The teacher points to a number and asks
the child to count backwards from that
number (avoid 0).
•If the children are proficient with adding
1 and taking away 1, the teacher can ask
them to add 2.
•Ask the children to tell you where a certain
number is, e.g. ‘Tell me where the number
5 is.’
Possible answers
(1. it is above 2)
(2. it is in between 0 and 7)
(3. it is on the first line)
(4. it is in the second box on the first line)
Extra activity
The teacher gives each a child a photocopy
of the target board and asks them to put the
correct number of counters on each number.
Recall activity
The teacher covers numbers with a Post-it
and asks the children if they can remember
which number is hidden.
Planet Maths Teacher Resources • Junior Infants