Skip-counting pattern sequences: Year 1 Maths topic guide

What students learn in AC9M1A01

This unit helps students build a clear, usable understanding of Skip-counting pattern sequences. The goal is not to memorise one answer pattern. Students should be able to explain the idea, recognise it in a new example and apply it in a short practice or worksheet task.

• Start with the main idea: recognise, continue and create pattern sequences, with numbers, symbols, shapes and objects, formed by skip counting, initially by twos, fives and tens.
• Use concrete examples, pictures, oral explanation and short written responses before moving to independent practice.
• using number charts, songs, rhymes and stories to establish skip counting sequences of twos, fives and tens using shapes and objects to represent a growing pattern formed by skip counting; for example, using blocks or beads to represent the growing patterns 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 … and 5, 10, 15, 20 …
• Finish with mixed questions so students must choose the correct strategy rather than copy the last example.

Curriculum coverage and elaborations

The content description and elaborations below show the curriculum ideas taught in this unit. Items marked as teaching context support lesson planning but may not appear in the initial eight-question activity.

• Content description: recognise, continue and create pattern sequences, with numbers, symbols, shapes and objects, formed by skip counting, initially by twos, fives and tens
• E1: using number charts, songs, rhymes and stories to establish skip counting sequences of twos, fives and tens
• E2: using shapes and objects to represent a growing pattern formed by skip counting; for example, using blocks or beads to represent the growing patterns 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 … and 5, 10, 15, 20 …
• E3: recognising the patterns in sequences formed by skip counting; for example, that skip counting in fives starting from zero always results in either a 5 or zero as the final digit
• E4: counting by twos, fives, or tens to determine how much money is in a collection of coins or notes of the same denomination; for example, 5 cent, 10 cent and \$2 coins, or \$5 and \$10 notes
• E5: role-playing being an industrial robot on an assembly line that packs various items into boxes or packets in groups of five or ten, keeping count of the total number of items produced
• E6: using different variations of the popular Korean counting game Sam-yuk-gu for generating skip counting pattern sequences

How to use this unit

Read the topic guide, use the teacher slide for instruction, then complete the Worksheet, Practice and Test. These three activities use the same eight-question unit bank.

Common mistakes to watch for

• Rushing to a rule before checking the concrete model, drawing or number sentence.
• Using the correct answer once but not being able to explain why it works.
• Mixing up similar vocabulary such as more/less, before/after, longer/shorter or equal groups/sharing.

International curriculum mapping

This table gives closest-topic mapping for search and planning. The Australian Curriculum code is exact; overseas entries are broad equivalents because each jurisdiction structures outcomes differently.

Related Year 1 Maths topics

• AC9M1N01: Numbers to 120
• AC9M1N02: Partitioning tens and ones
• AC9M1N03: Skip counting and equal groups
• AC9M1N04: Addition and subtraction within 20
• AC9M1N05: Additive problem solving and money
• AC9M1N06: Equal sharing and grouping
• AC9M1A02: Repeating patterns
• AC9M1M01: Comparing length, mass, capacity and duration

Official curriculum references

• Australian Curriculum Version 9.0
• Victorian Curriculum F-10
• NSW Curriculum
• Common Core State Standards
• Next Generation Science Standards
• England National Curriculum
• New Zealand Curriculum
• NCERT textbooks