# Day 37 · Every record gets counted once

**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](../learner/day-37.md) · [Ordinary cues/full alternatives](../aids/README.md) · [Adult preparation](../teacher/PREPARATION.md)