Problem Solving in Kindergarten

In Gwen's kindergarten class they have been talking a lot about the weather - And the topic of rain clouds and rain drops came up. Gwen used this discussion to have her kindergarten children participate in a Parallel Task.

The children were given a drawing of a rain cloud. They could choose between one rain cloud or two (this is what makes the task parallel). Once they had made their choice the students then rolled the number cube to determine how many raindrops the cloud would have. They wrote the number, and drew the rain drops.

From this activity, Gwen met many different Kindergarten math expectations:

Process Expectations:

* Problem Solving, Connecting, Representing and communicating;

Overall Expectations:

* Demonstrtate an understanding of number, using concrete materials to explore and investigate counting, quantity, and number relationships; and

Specific Expectations:

* Investigate some concepts of quantity through identifying and comparing sets with more, fewer, or the same number of objects;

* Recognize some quantities without having to count, using a variety of tools or strategies;

* Use, read, and represent whole numbers to 10 in a variety of meaningful contexts; and

* Begin to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.

In addition to this, Gwen was given a great assessment opportunity as she could then make observations about her students knowledge of number. For example, she could see who was able to print numbers correctly, who could demonstrate one-to-one correspondence, who could show synchrony (assigning one word for every object), and who can use the 1-9 sequence when counting (stable order principle) and cardinality. As well, she was able to see who can self correct when they make a mistake.

Problem solving can be done in kindergarten - And when it is, the results are amazing!

Thanks for sharing Gwen!