Frog Street Pre-K - Criterion 2.4

Frog Street Pre-K materials partially meet expectations for developing numbers and counting (2.4a).  

The Welcome Guide (pp. 69-73) provides information on strategies for quantity and subitizing, as well as the developmental progression of number and counting concepts. The materials provide clear standards for counting skills and number sense (Welcome Guide, p. 114). Mathematical activities are incorporated into small-group and practice-center activities, and a counting-strategy card is provided.

Quantities increase in a developmentally appropriate way, beginning with numbers up to 5 and building toward 10. The materials provide multiple opportunities for children to develop counting and quantity skills within small groups and Practice Centers. For example, in Theme 2 (p. 36), children roll a die and count to create that number of Play-Doh cookies, while on p. 41, they sing “Six on the Bed” to practice counting backward from six. In the small-group math lessons (pp. 48–49), activities build across several days: children count family members from the read-aloud Families (Day 1), match counting cards (1–10) and represent quantities using pennies and cubes (Day 2), count auditory cues like knocks and show amounts with cubes or fingers (Day 3), and sing “Can You Picture This?” while representing and drawing quantities up to three (Day 4), supporting early subitizing. Additionally, in the STEAM activity (TG 2, p. 51; TG 5, pp. 102-103), children count their steps forward and backward by 5 using FROG-E, reinforcing number sense through movement.

Children use manipulatives such as counters, links, cubes, fingers, drawings, dice, egg cartons, 5-frames, and 10-frames to represent quantity. Activities increase in complexity, primarily focusing on quantities of 5 and 10. Weekly math vocabulary words are provided for math small-group lessons. Limited guidance is provided beyond listing the vocabulary words, with little direction on how teachers should introduce, model, and support children in practicing them.

Materials introduce perceptual subitizing in early themes (e.g., using dice in Theme 2, Week 2). There is a standard that identifies quantities to 5 without counting (VI.A.13). In TG 2, p. 48, Day 1 math small group children are encouraged to figure out how many people are in a small family without counting, if possible. Day 2-5: children practice subitizing up to 3 (TG 2, p. 48-49). In TG 7, p. 74, there is a challenge activity to encourage children to subitize each part separately. The materials provide some opportunities for children to connect math to their lives, such as counting and representing the number of people in their homes (Theme 2, Week 2) and using counting links to take attendance (Theme 1, Week 1).

Overall, Frog Street Pre-K materials support the development of foundational mathematics skills related to numbers and counting. The materials provide clear standards and include helpful background information in the Welcome Guide on developmental progressions, quantity, and subitizing. Children engage in a variety of counting experiences across small-group lessons and centers, using manipulatives and participating in activities that build from quantities up to 5 and extend toward 10 in a developmentally appropriate way. Opportunities to connect mathematics to real-life contexts are also present. While some activities increase in complexity and include some introduction to subitizing, support for vocabulary development is limited, with guidance primarily consisting of word lists rather than instructional and practice strategies. The materials offer play and practice in counting and quantity, but would benefit from more explicit instructional guidance to deepen understanding of perceptual subitizing and to support math vocabulary development.

Frog Street Pre-K materials partially meet expectations for developing numerical relationships and operations (2.4b). 

The Welcome Guide (pg.69-73) provides information about strategies related to number operations. The materials provide clear standards for adding and subtracting, as well as for comparing quantities (Welcome Guide, pg. 114). Mathematical activities are incorporated into small-group, practice center activities, and there is a number operations strategy card.

Activities that address numerical relationships were found in Theme 2: small-group math-"How many?" Children learn many, few, and use connecting cubes to compare towers using fewer, more, and same. Theme 3, week 1  math small groups day 2 “Ordinal Numbers” children identify and order numerals. In Theme 7, during math, small group (pp. 100-101). Day 3: “How many more?” lesson where children use addition and compare how the number increased. Day 4: “How many fewer?” Children use subtraction to compare how the number decreased. There is a Family Connection Letter - “Which Is the Longest?” That relates to numerical relationships.

Opportunities for developing operations are found in Themes 7 & 9 Teacher Guides:

• pp. 22–23: During math small groups, children are joining quantities up to 6 using manipulatives, pictures, and numbers to visualize the sum as two sets are joined

• pp. 48–49: During math small groups, children find differences within 6 using manipulatives, pictures, and numbers to visualize the difference when a quantity is taken apart

• pp. 74–75: During math small groups, children explore part/part/whole relationships and combinations to make 5.

• pp. 100–101: During math small groups, children find differences and learn by “counting up” and “counting down.”

• Theme 9, pp. 74–75: During math small groups, children take apart a large quantity to make smaller quantities.

The materials include some instruction in mathematical vocabulary and gestures (e.g., using fingers to represent quantities and motion cues for operations). Vocabulary instruction is present but often lacks sufficient teacher guidance or depth to support conceptual understanding.  Materials offer some opportunities to connect math to real-world contexts. For example, using manipulatives to represent everyday items; adding to a pretend soup recipe and counting how many cups of water; counting classroom objects; sharing food fairly; cooking; building; shopping; outdoor play; and other familiar experiences. Read-alouds such as Sharing Cookies also invite children to reason about how they would share a set of cookies.

Overall, Frog Street Pre-K materials provide standards and include background information in the Welcome Guide related to numerical relationships and operations. Children engage in hands-on activities using manipulatives to explore concepts such as joining, separating, comparing, and part/part/whole relationships, particularly in later themes where addition and subtraction within small quantities are introduced. However, in earlier themes, opportunities to compare and order sets using language such as more, fewer, and same are limited, and conceptual subitizing is not addressed. While vocabulary and some gestures are included, teacher guidance is limited and does not consistently support deep understanding. The materials would be strengthened by including more meaningful real-world connections, more consistent support for gradually developing children’s knowledge and skills related to numerical relationships and operations over time, and conceptual subitizing.

Frog Street Pre-K materials partially meet expectations for developing geometry and spatial thinking (2.4c). 

The Welcome Guide (pp. 70-73) provides information on strategies related to geometry and spatial sense. The materials provide clear standards for geometry and spatial-sense skills (Welcome Guide, p. 114). Mathematical activities are incorporated into small-group practice center activities and STEAM, and a geometry and classification strategy card is provided.

Geometry activities are included across multiple themes and provide children with opportunities to explore shapes and their attributes. In Theme 1 (pp. 74–75, 100–101), children explore shape attributes and practice tracing and naming shapes. In Theme 4, activities build to include sorting and describing 2D shapes (Week 1, pp. 22–23), comparing 3D shapes (Week 2, p. 36), and sorting shapes by two attributes (Week 4, pp. 100–101). In Theme 5 (pp. 22–23, 74–75), children classify straight-sided shapes and engage in transforming, creating, and comparing shapes. There is some intentional sequencing, such as moving from 2D shapes to attributes of 3D shapes.

Spatial relationships are modeled within lessons, such as in Theme 1, Week 2 math small groups (pgs. 48-49), where children explore spatial vocabulary to describe location, direction, and distance. In Theme 3 (pp. 24-25), during STEAM, children program Frog-E to make turns in two directions using turning arrows and discuss directionality (right, left, forward, backward). In Theme 4 STEAM (pp. 102-103), children build bridges, focusing on key terms over and under.

There are some opportunities to connect geometry and spatial thinking to real-world connections such as a shape walk during an outdoor activity (TG 8 og.37). The materials include several components supporting the principles of geometry and spatial thinking including 2-D & 3-D shape cards, AngLegs, attribute buttons, connecting cubes, shape stencils/puzzles, shapes poster, Frog-E Grid Mat, pocket cube.

While math vocabulary words are included within all lessons and occasionally reinforced through songs or modeled in context, there is limited guidance on how teachers can support children in learning geometry and spatial vocabulary. Additionally, there is little use of strategies such as gestures and visuals to deepen children’s understanding of these concepts.

Overall, Frog Street Pre-K offers developmentally appropriate opportunities for children to explore geometry concepts, including identifying, comparing, composing, and classifying shapes. Spatial language is modeled in select lessons, and the inclusion of strategy cards and materials supports hands-on exploration. However, instruction in geometry and spatial thinking could be more consistently robust and varied across themes. Opportunities for spatial reasoning, real-world application, and play-based exploration are somewhat underrepresented. The materials could be further strengthened by providing more consistent and varied experiences, additional teacher guidance for introducing and supporting geometry vocabulary, and expanded opportunities for meaningful real-world connections.

Frog Street Pre-K materials partially meet expectations for developing measurement and data (2.4d). 

The Welcome Guide (pg. 70-73) provides information on measurement and data strategies. The materials provide clear standards for measurement and classification skills (Welcome Guide pg.114). Mathematical activities are incorporated into read-alouds, small-group practice center activities, transitions, and a measurement and classification strategy card is provided.

Teacher Guide opportunities for measurement activities:

• Theme 2, (pp. 22-23): During small groups, children explore small, medium, and big after reading The Three Bears, compare sizes big and small, explore long and short, explore tall and short, and explore height and width.

• Theme 3, (pp. 74–75): During small groups, children sort items by measurable attributes

• Theme 3, (pp.78); Day 1 closing circle asks children to line up for dismissal by a sorting rule

• Theme 4, (pp. 74–75): During small groups, children measure and compare lengths/heights

• Theme 4, (pp.88): During the math practice center, children use attribute cubes to build a tower

• Theme 8, (pp. 100–101): During small groups, children explore capacity and weight

• Theme 9, (pp. 23–24): During small groups, children focus on measuring time (before, during, after, long/short wait)

Teacher Guide opportunities for data activities:

• Theme 1 (pp. 74-75). During small groups, children begin to notice and describe attributes such as color, size, and shape, and graph using chart paper

• Theme 4 (pp. 100-101) During small groups, children begin the process of sorting by two attributes and use a Venn diagram to show the intersection

• Theme 6 (p.88) During math practice centers, children use frog counters and double-sided coins to graph the frogs by color (midweek option, optional challenge), (pp. 100–101). During small groups, children collect, count, organize data, design, and read the graph

• Theme 9  (pp. 100–101): During math small groups, children review the data analysis process using surveys about kindergarten, favorite shapes, friends, and age.

Each math small-group lesson includes a list of vocabulary words (e.g., Theme 2, p. 22; Theme 4, p. 100) and directions for implementing measurement and data activities. Measurement vocabulary, such as how far, estimate, unit, measure, bigger, length, and compare, is introduced during math small groups and practice centers. Data vocabulary, such as attribute, graphic organizer, bar graph category, column, data, and row, is introduced during small-group activities. Through math small groups and the assessment data collection checklist, children explore real-world attributes such as height, weight, time, fullness, and emptiness.

Overall, Frog Street Pre-K provides some opportunities for children to explore measurement and data concepts through structured activities, guided practice, and some familiar real-world contexts. Children are introduced to measurement vocabulary, basic data representation, and survey activities, and engage in hands-on experiences across small groups, centers, and routines. The materials would benefit from more robust, varied, and quality activities that strengthen the development of measurement and data concepts across themes. Additional opportunities are needed for children to apply and gradually advance their knowledge through both play-based and structured experiences. Teacher guidance could be strengthened to more explicitly support the introduction, modeling, and use of mathematical vocabulary.

Frog Street Pre-K materials partially meet expectations for developing patterns, structure, and algebraic thinking (2.4e). 

The Welcome Guide (pp.70-73) provides information about strategies related to patterns and algebraic thinking. The materials provide clear standards for patterns and mathematical practices (Welcome Guide pg.114). Mathematical activities are incorporated into small-group practice center activities, and a patterning and classification strategy card is provided.

Children are immersed in foundational mathematical thinking throughout the curriculum as they explore and manipulate materials and discover attributes related to patterns, structure, and early algebraic concepts. For example:

• Theme 3, (pp. 80-81): Pattern and pattern core are defined

• Theme 3, (p.88): Children explore hopscotch patterns in the math practice center, and children explore patterns of movement in the gross motor practice center

• Theme 3: (pp.100-101) During math, small groups of children explore and create patterns

• Theme 6: (pp. 36, 48–49): During math practice centers and math small groups, children compare, extend, and create patterns

• Theme 8: (pp.22–23): During math small groups, children examine one-more/one-less patterns.

• Theme 8: (p.36): During the math practice center, children arrange the pattern block snakes from youngest to oldest

• Theme 9: (p. 36). During the math practice center, children create and connect pattern cores (pp. 48–49): During math small groups, children discover patterns can be created in a straight line or circle, and can be labeled using colors or letters

Each theme includes some opportunities to connect learning to real-world contexts. For example, in Theme 3 (pp. 74–75), children work with picture cards of fruits and vegetables rather than real items. 

Overall, Frog Street Pre-K provides some opportunities for children to explore patterns, structure, and early algebraic thinking through hands-on, teacher-led activities. Children are introduced to concepts such as sorting, sequencing, pattern cores, and classification across multiple themes, with some opportunities to engage in patterning within small-group and center activities. Materials would benefit from more robust and varied experiences that strengthen the quality of activities for patterns and algebraic thinking. Teacher guidance could be strengthened to more clearly support the development of mathematical language, and real-world connections could be more consistently embedded to help children apply these concepts.

Frog Street Pre-K materials partially meet expectations for developing mathematical processes and skills (2.4f). 

The materials provide some opportunities for children to explain their thinking, use strategies to solve problems, and represent mathematical ideas in multiple ways.

The materials also include some activities that support problem-solving by incorporating prompts that encourage children to explain their thinking and use multiple strategies across activities. Questions such as “How do you know?” appear throughout multiple themes, guiding children to reflect on and articulate their reasoning. For example, in Theme 2 (p. 62), children are prompted to explain quantity using questions such as, “How do you know how many links to take?” and “Is there another strategy you could use to double-check?” Similarly, in Theme 2 (p. 74), children are encouraged to verbalize their strategies for determining the number of pet frogs, with prompts such as, “What strategy could she (Fanny) use?” However, these prompts are not consistently followed by ways to respond or extend children’s thinking, and opportunities for children to independently explore and apply problem-solving strategies across a wider range of contexts are less consistently evident.

The materials include some activities that support the development of reasoning and proof by providing opportunities for children to explain their thinking and justify their ideas. For example, in Theme 4 (p. 74), children compare book sizes and are encouraged to explain their comparisons, supporting their ability to reason and describe relationships. Similarly, in Theme 1 (p. 101), children explain how they know whether a shape is open or closed, prompting them to justify their understanding of geometric concepts. These experiences are limited in variety and depth and are not consistently embedded across all nine themes.

The materials include some opportunities to support the use of mathematical communication across all themes by introducing vocabulary and encouraging children to use it in context. For example, in Theme 4 (p. 49), geometry terms such as edge, face, cylinder, sphere, cone, base, and apex are introduced, and children are prompted to use this language to identify objects.  Mathematical vocabulary is consistently identified in lessons; however, guidance on how teachers can intentionally use and reinforce this language is limited, with only some opportunities for meaningful application.

The materials also highlight some interconnections between mathematical ideas and real-world connections across themes. For instance, in Theme 3 (p. 22), children identify numerals in everyday contexts such as addresses, Universal Product Codes (UPC’s), and license plates. However, these connections primarily occur during Math Small Group or Math Center time and are less often incorporated across other daily routines or content areas, which may provide fewer opportunities for children to experience mathematics within everyday contexts.

The materials incorporate multiple representations to support children’s understanding of mathematical concepts across themes. In Theme 7 (p. 48), children explore quantity through a variety of representations, including acting it out, modeling, drawing, and storytelling. 

Overall, Frog Street Pre-K provides some opportunities to support key mathematical processes and skills. Children are encouraged to explain their thinking, use strategies, and engage with mathematical ideas through a variety of activities across themes. However, these opportunities are not consistently embedded or developed with sufficient depth and variety across activities. The materials would be strengthened by more consistently integrating these processes across all activities, by providing clearer, more explicit guidance for teachers’ reinforcement of mathematical vocabulary, and by offering more varied and meaningful opportunities for children to apply, reflect on, and connect their mathematical thinking across different settings and experiences.