Examples of our Math Trays in Kindergarten

Crayon Rocks

I just ordered these after completing an Ed Webinar on fine motor skills in children ages 3 to 6.  

"Fine motor skills: write outside the box".  I highly recommend it!  

GRIT

http://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_the_key_to_success_grit

A question that we have been pondering lately in Kindergarten is why some of our students whom we classified as "devleping beyond" seem to struggle with some of the open-ended mathematical provocations in our kinder classes.  Why do some of the students whom we assumed were struggling matematically in such areas as numeral recognition, thrive and excel with these open-ended prompts? Is it due to GRIT?  

Kindergarten PLC today...

Today our kinder team met to discuss some of the learning from our k-12 math collaborative.  It was a great morning spent sharing and learning.  We started off the day viewing some of the Kindergarten Matters videos which focus on provoking an inquiry stance in mathematics.  This video spoke to many of us, and we connected to how the teacher responded to the learning by making a personal connection with the student.  We shared some of our personal stories of how we have pulled math from an inquiry such as in my room we brought out measurement when a group of boys built their own hockey rink. 

We reflected upon the car caravan problem that Helene Colombe assigned us back in January.  We had a deep conversation about mindset in regards to how the open ended nature of the problem spoke to many of our students who may struggle mathematically.  It seemed to allow these students an entry point which spoke to their personal strenths.  As well, we noticed that some other students who excell mathematically, struggled with the open-eneded nature of the problem; they needed a 'jumping off' point to get them started.  Diane Moore, an ECE member of our team, said that this was reflective of mindset; that the students who appear to struggle academically have to be more tenacious and persistent, thus creating a 'risk taking' stance in their approach to problem solving.  We all agreed that the kindergarten program, with its inquiry based approach, allows us to differentiate our instruction and environments to speak to wide and diverse audience of leaners.  

We also spoke about our grade one visit to Mrs. Pouliot's grade one class 2 weeks ago.  While we were there, our group observed their measurement centers.  We spent 75 minutes with the class while they engaged in their 5 centers.  Some of the observations that our group made after our observations were:  the learning was more student directed and less teacher initiated in grade one, there were certain expectations that the students knew that were expected of them before they left to centers in grade one, there were learning goals established before play in grade one, and the teacher had certain curriculum expectations behind her centers compared to in kindergarten, where the play is more open-ended.  We were also very impressed by the self-regulation that we saw during center time in grade one.  We saw evidence of collaboration and cooperation in the students.  

Lastly, we ended off by talking about the Capacity Building Series:  Maximizing Student Mathematical Learning in the Early Years.  This document gives lots of great examples of responding, extending and challenging in a math stance and some helpful tips when creating a math-rich environment.  

Our group plans on meeting again soon to discuss the results of our algebraic reasoning problem.  

The equal sign and early mathematics

I am part of the k-12 Math Collaborative and our last assignment centres around algebraic reasoning. My teaching parter, Becky, and I chose to focus on the idea of the equal sign and how it means the same, not answer.  This is a major part of algebraic reasoning.  I was talking to a grade 3 teacher at my school today about this and she said that this is one of the biggest stumbling blocks when she is teaching algebra problem solving.  I was thinking that if we in kindergarten can get the idea across to to our students about the real meaning of the equal sign in ways that are authentic and real world based, we can actually build the foundation of algebraic reasoning in children that they can access in later grades to take their learning further and deeper.
Mariam Small talks about this in her book "Great Ways to Differentiate Mathematics Instruction".  She says that "an equation is a statement of balance".  She suggests that using a pan balance is "an excellent model for the concept of an equation.  It helps students see what it means to say the sides have to be equal."  By using the pan balance in student-led play with loose parts, the students will be able to connect the concept of sameness to real-life scenarios.
I will post our finding soon.  I can't wait to see where the learning will lead us!

Welcome!

I have decided to start my own personal blog as a learning tool to help me document my personal learning as a FDK teacher.  I have been teaching kindergarten for almost 10 years now and this is my third year in the FDK model.  I feel that I have come a long way in the last three years as a FDK teacher.  I have learned about the Reggio model and have been fortunate enough to visit some Reggio inspired schools and daycares in both Ottawa and Boston.  As well, the inquiry model, which is the heart of the FDK program, is something else which I have endeavoured to implement. This model of learning is something which speaks to me personally, as it allows me to respond, extend and challenge the students in French and in a way that is personal and unique to each child.
Please join me on my journey!  I have so much more that I look forward to discovering!