# Day 16 — Sixteen and seventeen

**25 minutes · AC9MFN01 (16–17 representation and order), AC9MFN03 (count and compare 16/17); partial practice · educator review pending**

**Success today:** The child makes 16 and 17, matches each to its numeral, counts each object once, and demonstrates that 17 is one more than 16.

**Prepare per pair:** two ten-frames, 17 counters, cards 15–17 and number path; see [print-aids.md](print-aids.md). Give counters from an uncounted container.

1. **Reconnect, 3 min.** Show 15 as a full ten and five more. Ask what happens if one object is added. Let a child place it and count to 16.
2. **Model, 6 min.** Build 16 as ten and six more; show whole card `16` and count all objects. Add one object to show 17 and card `17`. Say, “There are not seventeen because I see a `1` and a `7`; there are seventeen because our count and frame show seventeen.” Point out the one-object difference, then order `15, 16, 17`.
3. **Play: gallery labels, 9 min.** Partners receive a pretend request for 16 labels on two display boards, then 17. One builds; one checks and selects the numeral, then swap. Variants: 16/17 rhythm markers for a music room or 16/17 paper pieces for a robotics model. No specialist equipment is needed.
4. **Independent try, 4 min.** Mix cards `15, 16, 17`; ask, “Build sixteen from this loose pile and choose its card. Now make seventeen with the smallest change.” Observe before suggesting the frame.
5. **Check and close, 3 min.** Show ten objects plus seven. “How many? Which comes before it?” **Key:** 17; 16 comes before 17; `15, 16, 17` is the order.

**If the child treats the six in `16` as the whole total:** Point to the full ten and six more, then count the entire collection. If they double-count when moving from the first frame to the second, touch or move each object exactly once and pause after ten before continuing to eleven.

**Access and record:** Use a raised frame, large/tactile cards, spoken count, grippable pieces or a partner who acts only on the child's directions. Record independent 16 and 17 builds, whole-card matching, one-more strategy and cues. The child may show the reasoning without speaking.