Embedded Files
The focus of this unit is on combinations, counting, and addition and subtraction. Students record different ways a set of two-color counters can land, figure out how many blue and red crayons could be in a set of five crayons, and play a card game in which they look for combinations of cards that total six. All of these activities focus on the idea that one number can be broken apart in many ways: 6 is 3 and 3 or 5 and 1 or 2 and 2 and 2. Students also count sets of up to 20 objects, and continue making sense of addition and subtraction through story problems and games that ask them to combine or separate small amounts.
Math Words and Ideas
2- Counting on the Number Line
8- A Story Problem About Two Groups
10- Ten Frames
11- A Story Problem About Combining
12- A Story Problem About Removing
13- A Story Problem About How Many of Each
14- Ways to Make Six
Non - Investigations Games
Students will be working toward these goals:
Related Activities to Try at Home
It is important that children solve math problems accurately in ways that make sense to them. At home, encourage your child to explain his or her math thinking to you.
Counting We continue to focus on strategies for counting accurately and are practicing counting sets of up to 20 objects. This is more challenging because there are more objects to keep track of, but also because the number sequence in the teens doesn’t follow the same pattern as the rest of the numbers. For example, think about 21, 22, 23 (or 31, 32, 33 or 41, 42, 43), and then consider the fact that we don’t say ten-one, ten-two, ten-three for 11, 12, 13. You can support your child by finding lots of ways to count together at home.
Solving Story Problems In this unit, students have many opportunities to solve problems about combining (addition) and separating (subtraction) small amounts. At home, find ways to present problems about common situations: “There are six people in our family. But Grandma and Grandpa are joining us for dinner tonight. How many people will there be?”. Or, “Usually, we have six people at our dinner table, but José is eating at a friend’s house. How many people will there be?”. Or, “If James wants three tacos, and Maria wants four, how many tacos do I need to make?”. Encourage children to explain how they solve such problems. Most kindergarteners count from one. Some may count on (or back) or “just know” some combinations.
Playing Double Compare We have been playing Double Compare with all of the cards from 0 to 10. You could play at home with a deck of playing cards. Each player gets half the deck. Both players turn over their top two cards, and the person with the greater total says “me.” The game is over when all of the cards have been turned over. Be sure to ask your child to explain how she or he knows which number is greater. You might be surprised—although many children count or add to find and compare the totals, some children do not. Instead they reason about the numbers:
Math and Literature
Bang, Molly. Ten, Nine, Eight.
Dale, Penny. Ten in the Bed.
Bowman, Anne. Count Them While you Can…: A Book of Endangered Animals.
Deitz Shea, Pegi, Cynthia Weill, and Pahm Viet-Dinh. Ten Mice for Tet!
Heo, Yeumi. Ten Days and Nine Nights: An Adoption Story.
Martin, Bill. Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Museum 123.
Sayre, April Pulley and Sayre, Jeff. One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab.
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