Kindergarten
Tips for Helping at Home
•
When we “take inventory” of materials in our
classroom, you and your child might take similar
inventory at home. For example,
count the number of cereal bowls,
beds, chairs, people or pillows.
Encourage your child to find
ways to keep track of which
ones have been counted and
which still need to be counted.
•
One of our class activities will
be counting letters in our names. You can do the
same at home with names of the family members
or a group of friends. Which name has the most
letters? Which has the least? Can your child put
the names in order by length?
Websites
http://cms.everett.k12.wa.us/math/Kinder
http://www.abc.net.au/countusin/games/game3.htm
Mathematical Emphasis
Investigation 1—Counting Books
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Thinking about what, when, and why people count
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Recognizing numerals and number names
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Connecting numerals to the quantities they represent
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Creating a set of a given size
•
Representing quantities with pictures, numerals, or
words
Investigation 2—Taking Inventory
•
Connecting numerals to the quantities they represent
•
Developing strategies for counting and keeping track of
quantities
Investigation 3—Comparing Towers
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Developing and using language to describe and com-
pare lengths
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Measuring by direct comparison
Investigation 4—Counting and Comparing
•
Counting groups of objects
•
Comparing quantities to determine which is more
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Using terms to describe and compare amounts
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Keeping track of the size of a growing collection
•
Finding the total of two single-digit numbers
Investigation 5—Least to Most
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Counting sets of objects
•
Comparing quantities to determine which is more
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Ordering quantities from least to most or most to least
Investigation 6 - Arrangements of Six
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Finding ways to visualize and arrange a set of six ob-
jects
•
Developing strategies for counting and keeping track of
quantities through about 12
Developing
Number Sense
Why Six?
Through the activities Six Tiles and Books of Six,
students explore the quantity of six. While the same
activities could have been done with almost any
other single-digit number, six was chosen for very
specific reasons.
Six is an amount that most kindergarteners can
count with some accuracy, even early in the year.
Because students need more than one hand to rep-
resent six on their fingers, they will naturally work
combinations of two numbers. This gives them lots of
opportunities to represent and see six as combina-
tions of other numbers - 1 and 5, 2 and 4, 3 and 3,
and 2 and 2 and 2, and so forth.
In addition, six is one of the largest amounts that can
be mentally visualized, mentally manipulated and
instantly recalled.
Finally, and most important to kindergarten students,
many of them are likely to be either 6 years old or
turning 6 during the year.
Murray, M. Investigations in Number, Data, and Space:
Collecting, Counting and Measuring. Dale Seymour Publi-
cations, 1998.
Game
Grab and Count
Grab a handful of some material, then count
to find out how many items you were able to
grab (generally students are counting
amounts up to 10 or 12).
Materials could be things such as checkers,
small blocks, or spools of thread. Avoid but-
tons, coins, or other things that are too
small, or your child may grab more than he
or she is able to count. If you get handfuls
that are too large, you can count them out
loud together so your child can hear and
practice the sequence.
Variations:
Who grabbed more? Who grabbed less?
Order the different “grabs” by most to least
or least to most.
Glossary
http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/
Vocabulary
Comparing—determining which is more or
greater, how much more
Number combinations—identifying numbers
that combine to make another number, for
example: 2 + 3 = 5 and 1 + 4 = 5
Combining—putting two or more numbers
together
Separating—breaking numbers apart
Direct comparison - measuring two objects
next to each other
Which pencil is longer?
