# Day 7 — Build eight and nine

**25 minutes · AC9MFN01 (8–9, partial), AC9MFN03 (counting to 9, partial); early connection to AC9MFN04 · educator review pending**

**Success today:** A child makes eight and nine in a ten-frame, names the numeral, and checks the quantity with one-to-one counting or a known five-plus pattern.

**Prepare:** Ten-frame; nine large counters; cards 7, 8, 9; blank paper. Place five counters in the top row in a consistent order.

1. **Reconnect, 3 min.** Rebuild six and seven from yesterday, naming “five and one” and “five and two.” Ask what would come after seven.
2. **Model, 6 min.** Place eight counters in the ten-frame, top row full and three in the next row. Say, “Five here and three here. Count all the counters with me to check: one … eight.” Show 8. Repeat with nine and show the one empty space.
3. **Play: theatre tickets, 9 min.** Draw 7, 8 or 9. A “theatre” has ten seats on a frame; fill seats for the tickets. Partner is the usher who checks each seat once and says how many seats are still empty. The empty-seat count is optional extension; it is not the main score. Variants: a recycling centre fills eight or nine sorting spots; an art gallery displays that many pictures.
4. **Independent try, 4 min.** Ask for nine without showing a card. The child makes the set and selects 9. Then point to a set of eight: “Which set is eight? How do you know?”
5. **Check and close, 3 min.** Give a scattered eight-object set and a nine-object ten-frame set. Ask for each total. Note whether the scattered set is counted accurately and whether the familiar frame helps.

**If the child counts a piece twice:** Move counted pieces onto a second mat, then rebuild the frame left to right. If 8 and 9 numerals are reversed or confused, pair each card with its frame and ask which has one extra counter.

**Access routes:** Use a raised ten-frame or a spoken “five filled on top, four below” description; the child directs a partner or uses accessible objects. Offer high-contrast numbers and a selection board 7/8/9. Do not require quick visual scanning when checking counting accuracy.

**Record:** construction of 8/9; numeral match; count accuracy in frame and scattered layouts; supports used.