Math

Developing Mathematical Understanding

Students will develop math vocabulary and concepts through discussion. They might be asked to talk about the picture below using their "math brains". They might say something like this:

Cindy: There is 2 blue balls and green.
Tomas: I like red. Teacher: What colors do you see? Tomas: Blue and green.
Jorge: They are circles. Two plus two equals four.
Cindy: 2 blue and 2 green.
Mayte: 1 green is outside.
Jorge: Yeah. 1 green is outside; one green is inside. 3 is inside.
Tomas 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Teacher: Can you point and count the circles? Tomas & others: 1, 2, 3.
- Mayte: You forgot that green. Teacher: What if we have 3 inside and 1 outside? How many are alltogether? Mayte: Maybe 4.
Jorge 3 and plus 1 more is 4.
Tomas: 1, 2, 3, 4. I can count to 4.

With practice, students learn that there are different ways of approaching and solving problems. They will see that the following are represented by the image below:

2 + 1 = 3 1 + 2 = 3 2 + 2 = 4 4 - 1 = 3 3 = 4 - 1 and so on

TK Math Practice

practice counting aloud and counting objects
work on recognizing and writing numbers
gaining math concepts and vocabulary (bigger, smaller, more, less, longer, taller, shorter)
recognizing shape, color, and pattern
sorting objects

Whenever possible, manipulatives should be used

Kindergarten Math Goals

By the end of the school year, students should be able to:

Count out loud to 100 (by 1's and 10's)
Be able to identify numbers 0-20
Write numbers 0-20
Count objects to 20
Identify shapes (2 and 3 dimensional)
Compare numbers and groups of objects
Solve addition and subtraction word problems (within 10)

How to help at home

Many math games and activities can be done with things you already have in your home. Counting is a great place to start. Students can practice counting the shoes in their room, or pennies in the junk drawer. Top-it is another game that supports number recognition and greater than / less than. Divide a deck of cards (1-10, not face cards) and take turns turning a card over. The person that turned over the greater number gets to keep both cards.

Alternate versions include:

Addition Top-it: Each player using two cards and adding the numbers together for each round
Place Value Top-it: Each player using two cards to create two-digit numbers
Subtraction Top-it: Each player using two cards and subtracting the lower number from the higher one
Low Card Top-it: The person with the lowest card wins each round

Click here for a video in English and here for a video in Spanish.