Counting with Bean

First grade is learning to count higher numbers. In our exploration, we used an outline of a foot and filled it with lima beans. Then we had to figure out the best way to count them. By 1's? Moving them away one at a time? The students finally decided grouping them in groups of 2's, 5's or 10's was the best method. Most of the feet had more than 50 beans per foot. We all decided counting by 10's was the best way to count them!