Me Too!

I have a younger brother who drives me crazy! If I have something or get to do something, he yells, “Me too! Me too!” When I play the piano, he wants to play too. He even wants to play the same number of keys! My parents always have to make sure they can split things equally between the two of us. Do you know how they do this?

My parents told me that there are even numbers and odd numbers. If a number is even, it can be divided into two equal groups. If it is odd, there will be one left over. Do you know how to tell if there is an even or odd number of balloons?

There are different ways to tell if you have an even or odd number of items. One way is to group the items in groups of two. Are they all paired, or is there one left over? When we imagine the balloons in pairs, like the picture at the right, we see that one is left over. Therefore, the number of balloons is NOT even. Three is not an even number. It’s odd.

Another way we could have decided if we had an even or odd amount is by using skip counting. When you count by 2’s, you are naming even numbers. If we had done this we would have seen that three is not included. Therefore, it is NOT even. Three is an odd number.

I asked my mom to buy some strawberries at the grocery store because I really like them. My brother yelled, “Me too! Me too!” My mother says she will buy them if there’s an even amount so we can split them. I count, and there are eighteen. Is this amount even or odd? Try making pairs or counting by 2’s to decide. Click on the answer.


EVEN	ODD

When I ask for other things at the store, my mother checks to see if the amount is even. Look to the right and decide if each amount is even or odd. Click on the correct button.


EVEN	ODD

EVEN	ODD

EVEN	ODD

You’re doing great! Sometimes when the numbers are really large, it isn’t a good idea to skip count or draw pairs. It takes too long, but you can still tell if the number is even or odd. Look at the last digit in the ones place. Can you find the pattern?

Click here for the pattern.

You have really learned a great deal about classifying numbers as odd or even. I think you will find that this skill comes in quite handy. I certainly use it a lot with my pesky brother! Now you can practice the skill by completing an art project. Click on the crayons to see the directions for the project.