Math · Grade 1 · 3 weeks
Safe Steps to School
Driving question
How can we make our school crosswalk safer?
Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how many more or less are in one category than in another.
TAUGHT IN Week 1, activity 2; Week 1, activity 4; Week 2, activity 2; Week 2, activity 4; Week 3, activity 1; Week 3, activity 3; Week 3, activity 4ASSESSED BY Traffic Data Representation; Data Interpretation and Comparison
Count to 120, starting at any number less than 120. In this range, read and write numerals and represent a number of objects with a written numeral.
TAUGHT IN Week 1, activity 1; Week 1, activity 2; Week 1, activity 3; Week 1, activity 4; Week 2, activity 1; Week 2, activity 2; Week 2, activity 3; Week 2, activity 4; Week 3, activity 1; Week 3, activity 3ASSESSED BY Counting and Writing Numbers
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First graders investigate traffic and crossing safety outside their school in Portland, Maine. Students count and tally people and vehicles during morning drop-off, represent their data on real-object and picture bar graphs, and time how long different walkers take to cross versus the street light signal. At the end of the three weeks, students present their graphs, crossing times, and safety requests to a city traffic engineer or the school principal.
The class walks outside to the front crosswalk at morning arrival with clipboards and tally sheets. The teacher points out the walk sign countdown and asks students to watch how fast people have to walk to get across in time. Back on the carpet, students share what they noticed about cars, strollers, and walkers.
- Who uses our crosswalk in the morning?
- How long does the crosswalk signal give us to cross?
- How fast can first graders and grandparents walk across the street?
- How can we show the city engineer our numbers?
Your lessons: 5 a week, 60 minutes.
Week 1
Count and tally who uses our street crosswalk at morning drop-off.
Read aloud a picture book about city traffic and safety helpers, then introduce tally marks on chart paper using counting sticks.
· 1 lessonWalk to the school crosswalk in small groups to count and tally three categories (walkers, bikes/scooters, and cars) for 20 minutes. Put students in counting crews of three with one job each (watcher, tallier, timer) and rotate jobs every five minutes.
· 1 lessonPractice counting objects and tallies up to 60 using ten-frames and write the matching numerals on whiteboards.
· 1 lessonWork in pairs with snap cubes to build towers showing the crosswalk count for each of the three categories and count total cubes.
· 2 lessons
Supports
Provide picture cards showing a walking shoe, a bicycle, and a car alongside tally boxes; paired verbal counting for multilingual learners; offer ten-frames up to 100 for children ready to count beyond 60; assign a home question asking families how they travel to school.
Deliverable
A completed tally sheet with written numerals and a matching snap-cube tower.
Week 2
Graph crosswalk counts and time how long it takes to walk across safely.
Read aloud a picture book about measuring time and practice counting seconds aloud up to 60 while clapping.
· 1 lessonMake a whole-class picture graph showing walkers, bikes, and cars, comparing which category had more, fewer, or the most. Drop the stroller category and count only walkers, bikes and cars so the graphs stay to three bars.
· 1 lessonMeasure a mock crosswalk in the gym and use a digital stopwatch to count seconds as students walk normally versus walking slowly like a grandparent. Do our second count at the crosswalk on Stevens Avenue by the Deering Center shops, where our families say the signal is worst.
· 1 lessonPartner pairs create a drawn three-column bar graph comparing the crosswalk light countdown seconds to student crossing seconds.
· 2 lessons
Supports
Use color-coded grid paper and pre-cut picture stickers for graph categories; provide physical number lines for counting seconds; challenge students ready for more to calculate how many more seconds a slow walker needs than the signal gives.
Deliverable
A drawn three-category bar graph with written labels and total counts.
Week 3
Build final crosswalk safety posters and present our data to the traffic engineer.
Draft a safety poster in pairs combining crosswalk counts, crossing time numbers, and a spoken request for a longer signal.
· 1 lessonConduct a classroom gallery walk where pairs give gentle spoken feedback using two stars and a wish.
· 1 lessonRevise poster drawings and practice spoken presentations using sentence frames explaining which number is larger.
· 1 lessonPresent safety posters and data to the visiting city traffic engineer and school principal, followed by self-reflection drawings.
· 2 lessons
Supports
Provide sentence frames on cards with visual icons ("We counted __ walkers" and "We need __ seconds"); allow oral explanation with adult scribing; pair children strategically; invite families to join the audience.
Deliverable
A finished crosswalk safety poster and spoken presentation.
The first lesson of week 3.
Students participate in a gentle carpet gallery walk with clipboards. Partners look at each poster and provide spoken feedback using 'two stars and a wish' with guidance from the teacher.
Student reflection
Students complete a reflection page by drawing their favorite part of the project and circling a smiley face to show how well they explained their numbers to the visitor.
What they make
Pairs make a colorful Crosswalk Safety Poster showing their three-category traffic graph, measured crossing times, and a clear request for extra walk seconds.
Options
Students choose whether to display data using drawn picture symbols or colored bar strips, and choose whether to present their poster by speaking or holding up demonstration cards.
Who sees it
A city traffic engineer from Portland and the school principal visit the classroom during the final two lessons of week 3.
Teams
Pairs assigned by the teacher to balance counting confidence and communication skills, with no job titles.
| Criterion | beginning | developing | proficient | advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Traffic Data Representation 1.MD.C.4 · individual | Draws pictures of traffic without grouping them into clear categories or matching totals. | Sorts items into three categories but leaves off labels or misplaces count marks on the graph. | Accurately represents data in up to three categories on a bar graph or picture graph with labels. | Accurately graphs three categories and writes a clear comparison sentence showing which has more or less. |
Counting and Writing Numbers 1.NBT.A.1 · individual | Counts objects with frequent errors above ten and needs adult help to write numerals. | Counts objects accurately up to thirty and writes numerals with occasional reversals. | Counts objects and seconds accurately past thirty and writes numerals correctly to represent counts. | Counts accurately past sixty and writes numerals correctly while starting counts from numbers other than one. |
Data Interpretation and Comparison 1.MD.C.4 · individual | States raw numbers but cannot tell which category has more or fewer. | Identifies which category has the most or least when prompted by the teacher. | Answers how many are in each category and tells how many more or less are in one category than another. | Explains both total data points and comparative differences clearly during the spoken presentation. |
Traffic Data Representation
1.MD.C.4 · individualbeginning
Draws pictures of traffic without grouping them into clear categories or matching totals.
developing
Sorts items into three categories but leaves off labels or misplaces count marks on the graph.
proficient
Accurately represents data in up to three categories on a bar graph or picture graph with labels.
advanced
Accurately graphs three categories and writes a clear comparison sentence showing which has more or less.
Counting and Writing Numbers
1.NBT.A.1 · individualbeginning
Counts objects with frequent errors above ten and needs adult help to write numerals.
developing
Counts objects accurately up to thirty and writes numerals with occasional reversals.
proficient
Counts objects and seconds accurately past thirty and writes numerals correctly to represent counts.
advanced
Counts accurately past sixty and writes numerals correctly while starting counts from numbers other than one.
Data Interpretation and Comparison
1.MD.C.4 · individualbeginning
States raw numbers but cannot tell which category has more or fewer.
developing
Identifies which category has the most or least when prompted by the teacher.
proficient
Answers how many are in each category and tells how many more or less are in one category than another.
advanced
Explains both total data points and comparative differences clearly during the spoken presentation.
- Clipboard and tally observation sheet with picture icons for walkers, bikes, and cars
- Digital handheld stopwatches with large display buttons
- Plastic interlocking counting snap cubes in multiple colors
- Large poster board, grid chart paper, markers, and dot stickers
- Picture book about city traffic and community helpers
- Contact details for the Portland municipal traffic engineering division to arrange a guest visitcheck before use