# Day 70 — Choose and explain

**25 minutes · AC9MFN01 and AC9MFN03 (sampled practice) · educator review pending**

**Success:** Child compares a fresh concrete or fictional paper set up to 20, gives a quantity or one-to-one pairing reason, and the teacher records one next teaching move. This is one observation in a body of work, not a full achievement decision.

**Prepare:** [formative guide](assessment.md); unrehearsed [F1–F4 checks](print-aids.md), each prepared without visible numerals; A/B mats and counters or pre-cut paper symbols. Select **three focus learners** for a three-minute conversation during station time; rotate the roster later for anyone absent or not observed.

1. **Retrieve, 3 min.** Ask the class, “What can counting tell us? What can pairing tell us?” Accept “how many” and “which has more/fewer/equal” with demonstration.
2. **Model, 5 min.** Place A=4 and B=4 in very different shapes. Pair them, then count. Say, “The pairing tells me equal. The count tells me four in each.” This four-item model is not one of the scored checks.
3. **Choice stations and three focus checks, 10 min.** Children compare a fresh card through tactile counters, paper symbols, drawing or child-directed adult movement. Teacher gives each focus learner one unrehearsed F check, asking, “Which set has more, fewer or the same? Show how you know. How many in each?” Record exact card, response, strategy and mathematical hint, if any.
4. **Private record, 4 min.** Learners choose count, pair or both for a second station card. Teacher records focus evidence and one next step in [assessment.md](assessment.md). If there was no accessible opportunity, mark `NA` and book a later check rather than inventing a score.
5. **Close, 3 min.** State a sound comparison reason, without child names. **Key:** F1 16/16 equal; F2 18/20 B more with two unmatched; F3 20/19 A more with one unmatched; F4 0/13 B more with thirteen unmatched. Use the key for whichever card was actually given.

**If the child gives only “the longer line”:** Invite a fresh count or pair and note the changed explanation. **Access and record:** Use raised A/B boundaries, grippable pieces, plain-text/read-aloud prompts, sign/AAC and private sharing. Paper biological imagery is optional; organism names are never scored.