Number 16 — sixteen. The loopy 6 returns behind the 1, with sixteen stars in rows of five, five, five, and one. Trace 16 down the dotted rows, write it alone, and trace the word sixteen.
Sixteen brings back the loopy 6 behind the 1, and the old rule settles it: loop at the bottom means 6, even in a teen number. Sixteen stars are laid out five, five, five, and one, so the count naturally breaks into fifteen and one more — a useful stepping stone on the way up to twenty.
Extension: line up sixteen small things — bottle caps, coins, or crayons — in rows like the panel, then sweep them into a pile and count again to prove sixteen is sixteen however they sit. Draw one more star in the margin: sixteen plus one sets up seventeen.
