Nine

NINE

OBSERVING NINE WITH YOUNG CHILDREN

Observing nine includes exploring geometric expressions of nine, i.e., nonagons, nonagrams;
polyhedrons such as a nonagonal pyramid and a nonagonal prism.

INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITIES

Have a table with natural and other characteristic objects for children to look at and gently touch. Make a ceremony of the placement of any new object or its picture to help create interest (e.g., a labyrinth created by a cross of nine points).
“What do you know about nine?” (e.g., Grandma says her cat has nine lives.)
Play “I Spy with My Little Eye,” finding nonagons and nonagrams throughout the room.
Challenge children to make nonagons and nonagrams with their bodies.
Have nine children sit in chairs placed at the vertices of a nonagon shape and help them hold a length of yarn to delineate the shape. Invite other children to lie down on the floor under the nonagon and look up at it.

LIFE SKILLS

Sort a collection of nonagons according to size or color.
Thread nine beads (dark blue) onto a pipe cleaner or length of string and fashion into jewelry.
Stitch around edges of nonagonal cards.
Cut along a nonagonal path.

SENSORIAL EXPLORATION

Hang a mobile with nonagons from the ceiling.
Invite finger-tracing of various nonagon and nonagram shapes.
Place tape to create a nonagon on floor; invite children to various exercises (e.g., walking, sitting). Consider average length of children’s legs so that nine can sit here and reform the shape with their legs.
Draw nonagons in a tray of sand or shaving cream.
“Draw” nonagons with your finger in the palm of child’s hand or on his back.
Feel sandpaper nonagon and sandpaper numeral nine; make crayon rubbings of the same.
Hold nonagonal pyramids and nonagonal prisms of various sizes, one at a time, in two hands. (Patterns are available for making various polyhedrons from paper or card stock.)
Explore bubble-making with various open-form polyhedrons: a nonagonal pyramid and a nonagonal prism.
Explore patterning properties of nonagons.
Push or pull a nine-pound weight in a box or wagon.

MATH

Explore a basket containing nine of various items (e.g., nine beads, nine pencils, nine apples).
Name items that the child can find and bring to you on a tray (“Please bring me nine…”).
Display currency units of choice (e.g., nine dollars, nine euros, nine yen, nine pesos).
Count various objects in room by nine. (Counting and skip counting songs are available.)
Display and work with units of measure (e.g., nine ounces, nine pounds, nine inches, nine feet, nine meters, nine minutes, nine hours).

LANGUAGE

Read aloud picture books that harmonize with the number nine theme (e.g., Comet’s Nine Lives by Jan Brett; Nine Men Chase a Hen by Barbara Gregorich; Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang).
Invite child to the nature table and engage child in conversation about the objects on display; have child write about the objects (teacher may write child’s words); invite child to “read” his story to his friends.
Trace within nonagonal stencils and around nonagonal forms (pre-writing skill).
Trace printed, broken-line nonagons off or on writing lines (pre-writing skill); extend into connect-the-nine-dots activities.
Pin-punch paper nonagons (pre-writing skill).
Provide materials for children to make little books about nine. Include pictures (e.g., a cake with nine candles, a fish tank with nine fish).
Explore sign language for nine.
Add relevant words to Word Wall (e.g., nine, ninth, nonagon); Greek and Latin prefixes (e.g., ennea—as in enneagram, nona—as in nonagram); include related pictures of natural and man-made constructs (e.g., nine-story Mayan temple, nine-level pagoda).
Add to three-part card activities (e.g., nonagon).
Explore phrases (e.g., “on cloud nine,” “nine lives of a cat,” “A stitch in time saves nine”).

CULTURE

Spotlight the words for nine as you learn to count together, one to ten, in other languages.
Look for expressions of nine on a variety of flags (e.g., Grecian, Uruguayan).
Share expressions of nine elsewhere in various cultures.
Nine is thought to be an unlucky number in Japanese culture.

History and Timelines

Add to the linear display of calendar months; guide understanding of nine months.
Add to the linear display of photographs of a child; add one from his or her ninth birthday—continuing concept of a lifetime.
Refer to a linear timeline of the ages and find the early civilizations of Egypt, the Americas, and Islam; explore work of the ancient craftsmen who used geometry extensively, both structurally and symbolically; focus on nine and the geometric expressions of nine.

Art and Music

Invite child to the nature table and engage child in conversation about the objects on display; have child draw/map the objects to create a still life.
Print nonagonal shapes using various items.
Paste nonagonal shapes.
Stencil nonagonal shapes.
Explore what can be created with nonagonal shapes.
Cut or pin-punch nonagonal shapes.
Explore patterning properties of nonagons.
Provide coloring sheets with nonagonal patterns.
Marble-roll paint onto paper in nonagonal pan or box.
Look for nonagons within selected pieces of art.
Sing and dance (e.g., add ninth verse to “The Ants Go Marching”).
Introduce a performance by nine instrumentalists or singers as a nonet.

Science

Look at The Periodic Table of Elements; nine is the atomic number of fluorine.

Astronomy

Consider Pluto; prior to 2006, Pluto was designated the Earth’s ninth planet.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

Have children find an expression of nine outside (e.g., rocks, roly-polies).
Invite nine children to sit on the patio and roll a ball to each other; talk about the shape expressed, i.e., a nonagon.