Make a table that can be checked.
Useful purpose: Create a categorical frequency table, reconcile it with full records, and distinguish an observed zero from an unavailable record.
1 · Find the starting point
Use a new five-record list and ask the child to identify its unit. Explain that a tally is a record of a count, not a category name or a judgement about how good a choice is.
2 · Prepare
Prepare the full MODEL records on paper or in words; keep the final counts out of view until the first own count if assessing acquisition. Allow moving a large paper mark after recording it or pointing while a helper records exactly. No speed test.
3 · Brief worked model
MODEL six fictional story cards have labels: adventure, nature, adventure, puzzle, nature, adventure. Frequency table: adventure 3, nature 2, puzzle 1, poetry 0; total 6 available cards. Poetry 0 means no poetry among those six known cards. If a seventh card’s label is unavailable, write unavailable 1 separately; do not call its unknown label poetry 0 or include it as an observed named category.
4 · A different guided try
Use an unrelated seven-record music-label list with three categories. Invite a one-to-one check: mark or describe each record as it is counted. Compare total frequency with the number of available records. Give a missing record explicitly only after the first complete example.
5 · Your own attempt
Choose your own safe category list or supplied data. State question/unit, record each available item once, build the table with total and a separate unavailable status if needed. Explain what a zero can and cannot mean.
6 · Observe what was actually shown
Look for complete acquisition/recording, non-overlapping categories, correct frequencies and a known total. A copied finished table shows interpretation, not independent recording. Record exact help, omitted/unknown records and any checking method.
Specific next teaching
If totals differ, use another four-record list and track one record at a time. If zero and unknown are mixed, compare a complete empty category with an unrevealed record. If secure, give an open category rule requiring a justified "other" or review.
Three choices you can switch between
1 · Story kit table
Which labels are in this kit?
MODEL six available records are adventure,nature,adventure,puzzle,nature,adventure. Make the table and total before seeing the worked check. Poetry is an optional listed category with observed 0, not a claim about reading tastes.
Evidence/observation: Accessed fictional records; own recording only if not copied from the key.
Specific next teaching: Use a new non-story set if tally and frequency differ.
2 · Unknown is allowed
What can this table honestly say?
MODEL five known labels: star,leaf,star,leaf,star; one unavailable label. Record: star 3,leaf 2, unavailable 1 and total 6 records/5 known. A listed moon category has 0 among known records only; unknown may still be moon.
Evidence/observation: Supplied missing-data reasoning.
Specific next teaching: Create a new example with a genuinely known zero and one unknown kept separate.
3 · Count your safe collection
Find a check you trust.
Choose a small safe non-personal collection and a single category rule. Count once, make a paper/typed/spoken table, check against original records and keep any excluded/unavailable item explicit. No uploading or photographing required.
Evidence/observation: Actual observations only if performed; usual-communication and helper action recorded.
Specific next teaching: Ask whether another recorder could reconstruct the total from your list.
Short child start · Ordinary cues/full alternatives · Adult preparation