Ferry Number 55 Tracing for a Brilliant Pair of Fives

Share the 55 check with a partner

Have two students each hold a 5 card. Give one the packet count and the other the loose count. Place them in numeral order and read the result.

Ask the group at the ferry station to mark the 50 and the 5 in separate areas. The child with the numeral card can point to each area while reading 55. A partner checks the group count before giving any hint about the handwriting.

Use this question during the role change. If one loose pass is removed, which of the matching digits needs to change? Give the checker time to show an answer with the objects. The recorder can point to 55, or write the result if the check changed the amount.

Read the large 55 before using a pencil

Hold a ferry label beside the largest 55 on the page. Ask the learner to touch 5 and then 5, while a partner reads the whole amount aloud. Let a child who is still learning the number name echo fifty-five after you.

Turn the small 55 card over and ask where 55 can still be found. Have the learner start on the left of the big pair. An adult can slide a plain paper tab along the underside to mark the reading direction without covering either shape.

Number 55 Tracing with a clear hand movement

While writing 55, repeat the flat top and lower turn of 5 with a fresh start and a gap. Use the margin of a separate sheet for a large hand movement. Afterward, choose one of the smaller 55 pairs and keep the unused hand on the paper so the sheet stays steady.

Look at the finished 55 beside the next dotted copy. Pick one visible clue, such as the space after 5 or the height of 5. Ask the child which clue would make a second 55 easier to read. Let them try it once and point to the change.

There are five 55 models in each numeral row. A brief practice might use just one pair on the upper line. Fold a plain strip over the 55 rows below if seeing all the dots makes it difficult to find a starting place.

Work out what the reader needs for 55

Try one prompt from the 55 table. A learner who names fifty-five confidently may need more time only on the written 5 or 5.

Locate 55 on the 51–60 strip

Begin the spoken run at 51. Point to one cell per word until the finger reaches 55 at position 5. Ask whether the child found the box by reading its value, following the numbers in order, or remembering where the shade appeared.

Read 54 one cell earlier than 55. Move right from 55 to the printed 56. Use the ferry display to act out a change of one. Invite a child to check the neighboring labels while a partner moves a single item into or out of the counted group.

Draw the number 55 on a slip of paper. Ask a partner to place it directly above the corresponding box, then cover only that box. The listener names 55 after reading one or two uncovered cells from the same short run.

Six observations for the 55 lesson

Account for the ferry count

Break 55 into 50 and 5 and use the groups to explain each digit.

Control both movements in 55

Follow one 55 without rushing from the 5 into the 5.

Connect the written name to 55

Track FIFTY-FIVE while saying it. Point back to the digit pair after reading.

Describe a change from 55

Use the two nearby values to check what happens after adding or removing one.

Check a rearranged ferry set

Recognize the same 55 when the countable pieces move to another position.

Choose a mark to revisit

Compare a new 55 with the model and describe one part to try again.

Try the ferry count at home

Mark two areas on a placemat. Put five ten packets on one side and five single slips on the other. Point to each 5 while explaining its job.

Have a family partner count the ferry display aloud. Let the child check the 50 already grouped, then account for the remaining 5 on a plain sheet. For a second check, turn one ten label over to show what its packet contains.

Make a small 55 label together and put it near the original display. An adult can turn away during the count and return to read the finished sign. Ask the child what information the reader needs to make sense of that sign.

Five games to try with the ferry count

• Make a ferry inventory card. Sketch the packets for 50 and add 5 dots. Let a new reader identify 55 from the sketch.
• Spot the covered value. Put a slip on the printed 55. Have a partner read the strip to that point, then uncover 55 to check.
• Deliver an extra piece. Add one to the ferry display and replace 55 with 56. Ask which digit changed this time.
• Pair a word and a figure. Place FIFTY-FIVE near a hand-drawn picture of the ferry supplies. Give the learner a choice of numeral cards to match.
• Repack the ferry pieces. Give the group a different-looking arrangement of 55. Ask a second checker to describe how the new arrangement can be counted.

Choose a small goal for the next 55 visit

Offer the 55 sheet around ages 5–8 to children who are starting to read pairs of digits. The ferry game can be done by pointing and speaking when the pencil work feels long. A child who is ready to write can set the amount next to a blank label and copy just one pair.

Give each 55 visit a purpose the child can say aloud. Today it might be finding 55 near its neighbor. A later lesson can return to a difficult stroke or the final part of FIFTY-FIVE. The unused lines are there for another visit.

Ask the child to choose a 55 they would keep on the ferry display. Let them tell what makes it readable, whether the spacing after 5 or the height of 5. Start the next session from the child's own observation.

Other ways to prepare for the 55 lesson

Return to smaller figures with the introductory 1–10 tracing set before 55. To plan a different turn for the ferry group, choose a mixed set of single-digit models or bring in the even-number dice activity and talk about what a numeral reports in that activity.

The ferry setting can borrow a turn-taking idea from family play at NAEYC. A PBS KIDS for Parents activity may also give FIFTY-FIVE a new use as a sign.

Open and print the 55 PDF

Use the free download to get the original 55 PDF. The member option for FIFTY-FIVE provides a clean sheet without the website watermark or ads. Sign into an eligible plan to use it.

In the print dialog, use US Letter portrait for 55. Make a single test copy to see the pale FIFTY-FIVE guides and the complete frame. Switch to standard quality if the dotted numeral is too faint.

The $8 collection includes 55 as page 55. Open it from the package card when you want to continue from the ferry activity to other numbered sheets through 100.