Counting

Concept: An educational book, which helps kids get familiar with the idea of counting by two’s, three’s and so on. (Essentially, a gentle precursor to the times tables they’ll be learning later.)

Style: AAB CCB rhyme scheme, with the A and C lines being shorter / more staccato than the B lines.

I can count

Any amount.

Come along and see!

 I’ll count these flowers

And show my powers.

There’s one, and two, and three!

Oh, wait! There’s more

I missed before,

These countable flowers of mine.

It’s easy to fix

Four, five, and six,

And seven, and eight, and nine

There’s number ten,

And eleven. And then…

This is really a big bouquet!

Counting is fine

But one at a time?

I’ll be counting the rest of the day.

[NOTE TO BETAS - would it make more sense to break this up into 6-line stanzas (above) or 3-line stanzas (below)? Each group of six does go together, so I worry that six lines in a row looks too heavy? Thoughts?] 

I’d sure love to master

Counting much faster,

When numbers get really high.

So, just for fun

I won’t count by one.

There’s so many numbers to try!

These pairs of shoes –

I’ll count them by twos.

Two, four, six, and eight!

That was a blast!

It went so fast.

Counting by two’s feels great!

These autumn trees –

I’ll count by threes.

Remember when they were green?

Now, colored so fine,

There’s three, six, and nine

Twelve, fifteen, eighteen.

My toy dinosaurs –

I’ll count them by fours.

I’ve sure collected plenty!

Let’s concentrate

There’s four, and eight,

Twelve, sixteen, and twenty

Bees in their hives –

I’ll count them by fives

(And stand back so their stingers won’t hurt me!)

There’s five and ten,

Fifteen, and then,

Twenty, Twenty-five, and Thirty

These baby chicks –

I’ll count them by six.

That peeping’s too loud to ignore.

 [Beta Question - are you bothered that this is the only time I say ‘six’ and not six’s? It made the rhyme so much easier, but I don’t know if it’ll stick out to other people like it does for me.]

[Also… peeping? cheeping? tweeting? what sound does a baby chick make lol?]

But they won’t distract,

Or get me off track.

Six, twelve, eighteen, twenty-four

The stars in the heavens –

I’ll count them by sevens,

And make wishes on them when I’m done.

They glitter and blink,

So I quick as a wink,

I count them seven, fourteen, twenty-one.

Those peas on my plate –

I’ll count them by eight.

I’m lucky – there are quite a few!

I’m eating them all

To grow strong and tall.

Eight, sixteen, twenty-four, thirty-two.

These ants in their lines –

I’ll count them by nines,

As they crawl over branches and sticks.

They work as a team.

Here’s nine on this beam,

Then eighteen, twenty-seven, thirty-six

[ART NOTE – the ‘friends’ are a combination of everything we’ve counted so far]

Now all of my friends –

I’ll count them by tens.

Get ready. It’s gonna be nifty!

The big and the small,

I’ll count one and all.

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty!

Counting’s a game

That’s good for my brain

And big numbers are so much fun!

Whether counting by sevens

Or fives, or elevens,

Or even just counting by one.

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