Quilt Number 72 Tracing for a Brilliant Eight-by-Nine Count

Read the large 72 before using a pencil

Hold a quilt label beside the largest 72 on the page. Ask the learner to touch 7 and then 2, while a partner reads the whole amount aloud. Let a child who is still learning the number name echo seventy-two after you.

Turn the small 72 card over and ask where 72 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.

Share the 72 check with a partner

Give one group the quilt diagram and another a tens mat. Have a recorder label the amount only when both sides agree on the total.

Ask the group at the quilt station to mark the 70 and the 2 in separate areas. The child with the numeral card can point to each area while reading 72. A partner checks the group count before giving any hint about the handwriting.

Use this question during the role change. Does a different quilt shape require a different count label if the pieces are the same? Give the checker time to show an answer with the objects. The recorder can point to 72, or write the result if the check changed the amount.

Work out what the reader needs for 72

Try one prompt from the 72 table. A learner who names seventy-two confidently may need more time only on the written 7 or 2.

Six observations for the 72 lesson

Account for the quilt count

Break 72 into 70 and 2 and use the groups to explain each digit.

Control both movements in 72

Follow one 72 without rushing from the 7 into the 2.

Connect the written name to 72

Track SEVENTY-TWO while saying it. Point back to the digit pair after reading.

Describe a change from 72

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

Check a rearranged quilt set

Recognize the same 72 when the countable pieces move to another position.

Choose a mark to revisit

Compare a new 72 with the model and describe one part to try again.

Locate 72 on the 71–80 strip

Begin the spoken run at 71. Point to one cell per word until the finger reaches 72 at position 2. Ask whether the child found the box by reading its value, following the numbers in order, or remembering where the shade appeared.

Read 71 one cell earlier than 72. Move right from 72 to the printed 73. Use the quilt 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 72 on a slip of paper. Ask a partner to place it directly above the corresponding box, then cover only that box. The listener names 72 after reading one or two uncovered cells from the same short run.

Number 72 Tracing with a clear hand movement

While writing 72, finish the slanted 7, lift and follow 2 down to its flat bottom. Use the margin of a separate sheet for a large hand movement. Afterward, choose one of the smaller 72 pairs and keep the unused hand on the paper so the sheet stays steady.

Look at the finished 72 beside the next dotted copy. Pick one visible clue, such as the space after 7 or the height of 2. Ask the child which clue would make a second 72 easier to read. Let them try it once and point to the change.

There are five 72 models in each numeral row. A brief practice might use just one pair on the upper line. Fold a plain strip over the 72 rows below if seeing all the dots makes it difficult to find a starting place.

Five games to try with the quilt count

1. Make a quilt inventory card. Sketch the packets for 70 and add 2 dots. Let a new reader identify 72 from the sketch.
2. Spot the covered value. Put a slip on the printed 72. Have a partner read the strip to that point, then uncover 72 to check.
3. Deliver an extra piece. Add one to the quilt display and replace 72 with 73. Ask which digit changed this time.
4. Pair a word and a figure. Place SEVENTY-TWO near a hand-drawn picture of the quilt supplies. Give the learner a choice of numeral cards to match.
5. Repack the quilt pieces. Give the group a different-looking arrangement of 72. Ask a second checker to describe how the new arrangement can be counted.

Try the quilt count at home

Cut flat paper rectangles and set them out as eight groups of nine. Count them into tens in a second layout and leave the last two visible.

Have a family partner count the quilt display aloud. Let the child check the 70 already grouped, then account for the remaining 2 on a plain sheet. For a second check, turn one ten label over to show what its packet contains.

Make a small 72 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.

Choose a small goal for the next 72 visit

Offer the 72 sheet around ages 5–8 to children who are starting to read pairs of digits. The quilt 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 72 visit a purpose the child can say aloud. Today it might be finding 72 near its neighbor. A later lesson can return to a difficult stroke or the final part of SEVENTY-TWO. The unused lines are there for another visit.

Ask the child to choose a 72 they would keep on the quilt display. Let them tell what makes it readable, whether the spacing after 7 or the height of 2. Start the next session from the child's own observation.

Other ways to prepare for the 72 lesson

Return to smaller figures with a mixed set of single-digit models before 72. To plan a different turn for the quilt group, choose the even-number dice activity or bring in the 1–6 dice practice and talk about what a numeral reports in that activity.

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

Open and print the 72 PDF

Use the free download to get the original 72 PDF. The member option for SEVENTY-TWO 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 72. Make a single test copy to see the pale SEVENTY-TWO guides and the complete frame. Switch to standard quality if the dotted numeral is too faint.

The $8 collection includes 72 as page 72. Open it from the package card when you want to continue from the quilt activity to other numbered sheets through 100.