Attributes and Comparisons

Where does your name go?

self portraits:  how am I the same, how am I different?

more comparisons

sorting with a rule

something longer, something shorter, than my name

attribute cards

different ways of building

how many letters are in my name?

 

Our Kindergarten Math this week began to look at attributes as well as comparisons. The children are very accomplished at finding something that matches by at least one attribute, be it color, shape, size, etc. We read the book Chrysanthemum to find out what it meant to be a little bit different, as well as compare our own names to Chrysanthemum's name. We play games now, finding names in the room that are longer or shorter or the same size as ours and keeping track. Some children even explored attribute cards, matching blocks to the attribute card, thin, thick, red, yellow, etc. The counting jar is in operation, and we have counted all the way up to 30 with the calendar.

Until Next Time,
Michele

Building On The Routine....

The K Mathematicians have begun to formalize their free play choices as they are learning some new rules to games.  This week we learned about matching by at least one attribute, and so the buttons looked a little more organized when they were worked with. We added a calendar to our welcome routine, and so have the chance to count each day and talk about numbers before and after.  Our attendance routine looks a little bit different, as we are constructing a cube tower to show how many children are here today. We added an independent activity, the Counting Jar, which allows children to count how many in the jar and record their count independently. We wrote the number "2" and also wrote in our journals at the end of the week. We are getting comfortable with our math routines and expectations, and  getting a little challenged!
Until Next Time,
Michele

Welcome to Kindergarten Math 2011/2012

Kindergarten Math has just begun! We shared a week of getting used to our "routine" for math; Circle at which we take attendance and practice counting, Activity which is a time for instruction in math, reading a book, or playing a game, Math Workshop during which the children make choices of different math activities, and Check In, when we come back together as a group and perhaps show our work, talk about what we've noticed, or play a game. This week we practiced some games and number recognition, and counted off to take attendance each day. The children engaged in long stretches of free play with math manipulatives as they familiarized themselves with the attributes of the different materials, and we shared many counting and number books together. We made a bulletin board of pages to illustrate what 10 YELLOW DOTS could be, and the pictures produced were very creative and sometimes included many more dots than 10!
These pictures illustrate one of our activities on Thursdays, which will be recollecting what we learned in math this week, and drawing pictures or writing words in a journal. There will be a message in each journal from me regarding our week.

Until Next Time,
Michele

Joining with the First Grade

This week we spent time together with our classmates to learn how to weave. No pictures, just busy times.

Surveys and Attributes

This week we talked about two favorite kindergarten topics, it turned out....LUNCH and ASKING OTHER PEOPLE QUESTIONS.
The children drew pictures of their lunches, including all the parts, and then drew a picture of their favorite part of lunch. We then grouped the favorites according to an attribute...drink or not a drink, sweet or not sweet, crunchy or not crunchy....and the children were original in their thinking and grouping. We moved on to survey questions....composing a "yes no" question, then asking a number of people the question, and recording the data. The children were able to report the results of their data collection with accuracy (and were very engaged in each step of the process).
Until Next Time,
Michele

skip counting

We began our week drawing pictures of ourselves, and grouping ourselves according to a big word that we've learned, "attributes." The children needed to draw themselves in detail, and that detail helped us to sort the pictures, and the children. We also learned to skip count as an offshoot of this grouping and counting activity...if there are 10 children, how many noses are there? How many heads? How many eyes?

Numbers in Review

We looked at making patterns and pictures with square tiles making sure to follow the rule of a complete side touching. Then, we talked about how to show our picture work with numbers. 3+3+2 ? what would you do?
The children revisited a few games, "toss the chips" and "racing bears" as well as "roll and record" 1 through 9. The children are learning to work together, take turns, choose the best move for their playing piece, as well as to show their math thinking with numbers and symbols.
Until Next Time,
Michele