Student Work # 3

In my Kindergarten classroom, every morning my students count how many days they have been in school. First, the teacher will state how many days they have been in school this year and then she will ask the students how to change the number on the board. The students then have to decide to add a one to the tens or the ones column. The purpose of this math activity is to get students to practice in counting and becoming familiar with the ones and tens column. This routine gets the students to use their basic understanding of simple counting and leads them to begin thinking about a more difficult concept that will eventually help them with more difficult tasks like adding bigger numbers. I think this task is done well during the morning routine in calendar time. But the teacher could make an additional math lesson with more difficult numbers to make sure that the students understand when to add to the ones or the tens column.

One anticipated student response would be if the student would suggest that we make the 8 a 9 instead of the correct answer which is making the 5 a 6. Another way to answer this problem is the student could know that 6 is one more than 5 and the ones column must change to a 6. To solve this problem, the student must decide which number they need to change, either the tens or the ones column, then they must tell the teacher how many Popsicle sticks must be in the column they chose.

This math task tells the teacher that the student can complete simple addition and how a basic understanding of the ones and tens column. These concepts are important because students will eventually need to complete more difficult variations of these types of problems. Another way to advance student thinking is that the teacher could develop a math lesson about the ones and tens column. This would show the teacher that the students are able to complete more difficult numbers then just adding one to the ones column. The teacher could also ask the student why they knew to add to one to the ones column and not the tens column. This would cause the student to think about the differences between the ones and tens column.