Let's Talk Math!!

Hi all!! 

One of my favorite subjects in kindergarten is Math!!  It always amazes me how little minds work.  Does any one else feel this way?  Little ones can solve problems in so many ways and sometimes I have no idea how they arrived at the conclusions that they did, but they are spot on!! 

So, today let's talk math!! (Just so ya all know, I'd do this with any grade level.  I'm just sharing from a kindergarten perspective!)

In my classroom each day we spend part of our day introducing and reviewing common core concepts using my Kindergarten Daily Math units.  We also spend part of our day doing an activity called "Math Talk".  I've talked about "Math Talk" before, but thought I'd share a little bit about it again, since it is a quick and easy way to tie in some of the standards each day in your classroom!

Basically "Math Talk" is a conversation about a picture.  The little ones are using math language during our conversations (after much modeling) and sometimes we even incorporate our comprehension strategies into our discussions.   We always begin our conversations talking about what they notice in the pictures.  Many times the little people are able to infer something about what they think is going on in the picture by clues and it is so neat to see how their thinking changes as they gain more information from their classmates (synthesizing).

One of the standards for kindergarten is to describe objects in the environment using names of shapes, and describe the relative positions of these objects using terms such as above, below, beside, in front of, behind, and next to.  Using our pictures for "Math Talk" helps us tie this standard into our math time.  Another nice thing about using pictures is, it also helps children begin to see things in groups, and not just by 1's.  Each little person is joining the conversation where they are in their thinking/learning.  They are also having the opportunity to learn from their peers' thinking which pushes them just a little bit further. 

At the end of math talk, I give the little people some problems to solve using things within the pictures.  They can solve the problem in any way they wish.  Some will count on, some will add, some will subtract.  It is so neat to see how they're thinking. 

I thought maybe you would like to see what one of our pictures might look like.  I decided to include 2.  It doesn't have to be anything fancy, it could just be a picture you took on vacation, at a holiday gathering, etc.  These just happen to be of my little grandson on a trip to the apple orchard last fall.  The important piece is the conversation!!!   Happy talking! 

Splish, Splash Ducky Math!!

Today we began new Math Centers. I think this is going to be a favorite. It was so simple to make and the little group today loved it. Their job was to choose 2 duckies in the pond (Each momma duck and baby had a number written on their bottoms between 1-6). Next, they turned them over and decide if they were going to add the numbers on the bottom of their duckies together or subtract them. Then, they recorded their number sentences and solutions on their recording sheets. After they solved their problem they returned the duckies to the pond and chose 2 more.

I bought the little duckies and pond (a giant blue bowl) from the Dollar Tree. Total cost $5!! And so much fun!!

Observation!  Yikes!

Hi All,

I'm being formally observed for the first time in like 20 years!  Oh, boy!  I know it isn't a big deal, but I'm still a little nervous.  I'm just glad I've had a few weeks with my little kindergarteners before the big day!  This year our school district is focusing on Math Common Core.  Therefore, my first observation is going to be a Math lesson.  We've been doing Math Wall activities since the first day of school, so this will be part of my lesson on Monday.  We've also been doing Math Talk pictures.  If you've never used Math Talk it is amazing.  The children observe different pictures looking for patterns, creating and sharing their own math stories or mathematical thinking.  We work on number bonds, counting by 2's, 3's, etc. during our Math Talk time.  Below is the picture we will be using for our Math Talk lesson on Monday.

For this particular lesson I'm also introducing our "Ten-Frame" work mats.  The children have been using ten-frames daily on our Math Wall activities, but this will be the first time they have used a mat to aid them in solving a CGI story problem.  I'm very excited to see how it goes!!  I'm adding our work mats to my TPT store.  So, if you're interested stop on over.  Here are a sample of a few!  Have a great day!!

I would like to share with you our "Math Calendar Wall".  I have to admit I search the web for different ideas on how to go about doing a Math Wall.  Many of you had some awesome ideas and I reworked them to fit my kindergarteners' needs.  Each day the children will participate in learning about a special number.  Tomorrow our number will be the number 4.  Our activities for the day will focus around the number 4.  These activities hopefully will help your child build number sense and help with number fluency, as well as, emphasizing the Math Common Core Standards for Kindergarten.  

Below I will share with you each of the activities and what the children will do with each.

Here is what the page in our Math Notebook looks like for August!  Please keep in mind it will change some over the course of the year reflecting new skills and Standards being introduced and taught during our Calendar Math time! Kathleen Pedersen of "Growing Kinders" has a whole package available over at her TPT store if you're interested.

Each day we add the date to our calendar on the chalkboard and write the date in our Calendar Math books.  The students highlight the day of the week using a crayon, what day tomorrow will be and write in the triangle how many days we've been in school while I'm modeling how to do this own the board, as well as in a notebook like theirs. These 2 activities will help the children learn the sequence of numbers which is Math Common Core Standard K.CC.3. 

Learning to count on from a given number is part of the Math Standard K.CC. 2).  So, this next activity will helps us with this concept during the year.   "What comes next?" is also Standard K.CC.4c. By using the "Shape Pattern" we are working on Standard K.G 5, which asks children to build and draw shapes. I felt it was important for them to understand patterns, so I chose to include this along with shapes.

Using our "Tally Marks" box we will add the correct number of tallies daily to reflect the number of days we've been in school.  As our number climbs we will be counting our tallies by 5's and 10's and ones emphasizing Common Core Math Standard K.CC. 1).

Number Bonds and Dominoes will help the children understand different combinations can be added together to make the same number.  Math Standard K.OA 3 asks the children to decompose numbers into pairs in more than one way. For example: 5 = 2 + 3  and 5 = 4 + 1). Standard K.OA 5 asks children to fluently add and subtract number combinations to 5. And, Standard K.NBT 1 asks children to compose and decompose numbers from 11-19 into tens and ones using objects or drawings or equations.  Wow!  Look what all we'll accomplish with our dominoes and number bond activities!!

At the end of each month the children will take home his/her pages from their Calendar Math notebooks for the month we are just finishing up with.  We will begin a new month of Calendar Math, sometimes with some new activities to introduce and reinforce the Math Common Core Standards.  Feel free to reinforce these concepts at home as well!! 

*Sidenote:  Each month we will go back and review the numbers, but our "We've Been in School ? Days" and our "Tally Marks" will continue to grow!!