Student Work Blog - Kaitlyn Flint

This math task is similar to a math task that I had a couple weeks ago called "4 ways to make 4". This past week my kindergartners were working on a math game called spill the beans. This game requires 9 "beans" in each dixie cup. Each student has a dixie cup and they have to shake the cup and dump the 9 beans out on the table. One side of each bean is colored white and one side is colored red. The students were to use their paper and color in how many red they rolled and how many white. From there, they made a number sentence that involved two numbers being added together the make nine. The point of this was for the students to see that there are many ways to add various number combinations together to equal the number nine.

One I had about this assignment is:
1. How does the teacher know the students are recognizing that there are many ways to make 9? The teacher does not ask the students to explain anything other then write their number sentence, so to push this worksheet further, it would be interesting to have the students write on the back of the sheet how they recognize there are different ways to get to the number 9.

I honestly thought that other then that one fix, that this task was meaningful and tangible for the students to grasp. I also like how she allows them to work with manipulatives so they are not just coloring in random beans, but there is a method and reason for their number sentences. Using the manipulatives helps the students to visually see that there are always 9 beans in their cup, but the different colors represent different numbers of beans, which in turn translates into a number sentence. I think this math task was handled appropriately by the teacher and she made it interactive and hands on for the students as well, so I could not think of any other questions to probe with this specific worksheet.