Lesson Plan #: AELP-MPS0004
Submitted by: Jennifer Elsey
Endorsed by: Don Descy, Mankato State University Date: May 14, 1997

Subject(s):

• Mathematics/Process Skills

Description: The students will each get their own cup full of jelly beans. They will then sort the jelly beans by color. On a piece of graph paper, students will graph how many of each color they have.

Goals: The students will understand how to sort and graph.

Objectives: The students will learn the concept of sorting by sorting out the jelly beans by color. The students will learn how to graph by graphing how many of each color of jelly beans they have.

Background Information: This activity can be used with all children preschool through Kindergarten. This lesson teaches the students how to sort colors. This lesson also teaches basic concepts of graphing and reinforces counting. The students need to be supervised and helped when needed.

Concepts: The students will see the relationship between their graph and the number of each color of jelly beans they had.

Materials:

• 1 large bag of jelly beans per 10 students
• 1 Dixie cup for each student
• crayons
• large squared graph paper
• paper towels

Procedure:
1. Give each student one cup full of jelly beans. 2. Give each student one piece of graph paper.

3. Give each student one paper towel.

4. Tell the students to dump their jelly beans out on their paper towel.

5. Tell them to sort the jelly beans by color.

6. On the graph paper have them color horizontally as many squares as they have jelly beans of each color with the corresponding color, i.e., if the student has five red jelly beans then they would color five squares red horizontally.

7. The students can now eat their jelly beans.

Assessment:
1. Ask the students which color they had the most of.
2. Ask the students which color they had the least of.