Oakland Terrace Kindergarten Math Student Work

Student making addition number sentences from a pair of number generators

Student counting the dots on a number generator to determine the sum of two numbers.

Students in Ms. Thompson's class roll two number generators and determine the sum of the two numbers rolled. They count the dots of the two numbers to find the answer. They can state the number sentence outloud: six plus six equals twelve. It is important for students to work with concrete or pictorial representations of addition and subtraction at this age. Providing students with a strategy which allows them to combine two sets by counting them is important in their understanding of the concept of addition. Very few students at this age can memorize many of their math facts, but they can start learning strategies that will help them to memorize those facts.

A student shows the two numbers generated on his fingers, and then counts to find the sum.

A student counting the dots on the number generators to solve 5 + 6.

As students find the different sums, they color the section of their sheet. Students start to anticipate that smaller numbers, like 1 and 2, will result in smaller sums. Students can also experiment with different strategies. Many children, when combining two sets, will start counting from 0. For instance, the student in the picture above right would start by counting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and then continue counting 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 to arrive at the answer. A more advanced counting strategy would have the student start at 5 (the number showing on the first cube) and then using the counting on strategy: 5- 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 ; counting one number for each dot.

Students should be exposed to this type of activity throughout Kindergarten and into well into 1st grade to develop a strong understanding of the concept of addition, and to practice counting on strategies that will become rote and improve their mastery of basic facts in 1st and 2nd grade.

Indicators:
6.K.4.1 use concrete objects to model simple sums and differences.

6.1.5.3 find sums and differences using counting strategies such as counting on and
counting back.