I don’t know about you, but when I started teaching writing IEP goals was hard. Then I found out I needed to align them to standards. What did that even mean?! If my students were meeting grade level standards they wouldn’t need IEP goals. That’s when I started doing a lot of digging into what everything meant and I started to absolutely LOVE writing IEP goals. I started my deep dive with the math standards (math nerd over here) and I came up with 4 goals for Counting and Cardinality that you can use with your students, too! I’m planning on covering some Common Core Standards and helping you write some MEANINGFUL IEP goals that are ALIGNED to the standards.
Now, aligning to standards doesn’t mean your students are going to master grade level standards. What that means to me is that students are working towards mastery of part of the common core state standards.
In this post, I’m going to provide you with a meaningful IEP goals for the Kindergarten standards of Counting and Cardinality. I am going to share a goal you can use, the common core standard it’s aligned to, and a few activities to help you progress monitor each goal. Ready to dive in with me? Let’s do it!
1. Counting with 1:1 Correspondence
GOAL: By (date), when given up to (number) objects and cued “Count the (object)”, (student) will count the objects and match the correct number to the set in X/X trials over X weeks as measured by teacher charted data.
Aligns to: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.B.4
In this standard, students are practicing and mastering 1:1 correspondence within 20. Oftentimes my students are working to master counting 5-10 objects. They’re still working towards the standard, so when I say a student will count up to 10 objects and match to the correct number, we’re making progress towards the end goal of 20 objects.
Here are some resources you can use to progress monitor this goal in your classroom:
- Laminate Velcro and Go! Anytime Counting Tasks
- Counting Mega Pack
- Counting Task Cards
- File Folder Tasks
- Counting Worksheets
2. Comparing Numbers
GOAL: By (date), when given two groups of no more than (number) objects, (student) will identify the group with more and less in X/X trials over X weeks as measured by teacher charted data.
Aligns to: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.C.6
This standard has two parts that has students comparing both groups and numbers. Because my students tend to be more concrete learners, I like to write this goal based on objects. That way my students can either count the objects or pair them up to determine which group has a greater number of objects.
Here are some resources you can use to progress monitor this goal in your classroom:
3. Rote Counting
GOAL: By (date), when cued to “count to (number)”, (student) will correctly count aloud in sequence in X/X trials over X weeks as measured by teacher charted data.
Aligns to: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.A.1
The common core standard calls for students to count aloud to 100 by the end of the year. For my students that struggle with counting and cardinality, we’re often working on counting to 10 or 20 in my classroom and that’s ok because it’s a step towards the Kindergarten standards.
Here are some resources you can use to progress monitor this goal in your classroom:
4. Writing Numbers
GOAL: By (date), when given a number from (X-X) and cued to “(write/trace) (number)”, student will legibly write the number in X/X trials over X weeks as measured by teacher charted data.
Aligns to: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.A.3
While this standard calls for our students to be writing the number in order to identify objects, I’ve broken this goal down to a more discrete skill of number writing. My students will need to be able to write the numbers in order to fully master this standard, so breaking this chunk off for students to work on is a good place to start.
Here are some resources you can use to progress monitor this goal in your classroom:
- Number Writing Discrete Trial Teaching Kit
- Everyday Writing: Writing Practice for Shapes, Letters, Numbers, and Words
I hope you’re less stressed about writing IEP goals for your students about Counting and Cardinality. These goals are not the end all when it comes to writing Common Core aligned goals. It’s a great starting point and the true IEP goal magic comes when you start tailoring these IEP goals to fit the student you’re working with in your classroom!
What Common Core standards do you want to see goals aligned to next? Drop me a comment and let me know!
