Math

I got this really cool math idea from the national kindergarten conference this past summer. You take a pipe cleaner and some beads, thread the beads onto the pipe cleaner and make a bracelet. Sort of like the ones Mom made in the library a week or so ago with the energy beads. Only you use more beads.

I tried it with 5 beads today. Everyone counted out 5 beads (well, everyone who COULD counted out 5 beads) Unfortunately I have this small cadre of children who can't count to 5 (and what is REALLY funny is that it's pretty much the SAME little group of kids who don't know any letters). Anyway, I digress.

With the 5 beads on the bracelet, they can then do all of the math facts for the number 5 (again, assuming they can count to 5) just by sliding the beads around. Take 1 away, how many are left? Take 3? Ect.

So tomorrow I will start hidden assessments on math numbers beginning with three. The way the hidden assessment works is that you take (I'll start with 3) a specific number of beads, place them in your hand, and then one child at a time, you remove some of the beads, and by looking at the beads that are left, they have to tell you how many you took away and have hidden in your hand. You do this for all number combinations, or all of the number family for a specific number. If they get all of the facts for 3, you add a bead and do it for 4, then 5, etc until they make a mistake. What ever number they make a mistake on is "their" number, and they work on it until they can pass it.