I have 25 amazing and unique kindergarten students from all levels, skills and backgrounds. I serve in a K-8 school where there are 3 Kindergarten classes at about 25 students per class. Our school is considered to be in a low income neighborhood, our students are very transient, and we serve many ELL students across the board.
Having tools we need will help close the achievement gap.
It is my duty to provide effective learning opportunities for my students. I wish to reach all my students and help create and maintain a positive attitude and perception of school.
My Project
One of the best way to introduce math concepts are through literature. It will provide meaning to using math manipulatives. It will enhance students understanding and vocabulary relating to mathematics.
My students have struggled in math areas such as addition and subtraction; even with repetitive reviewing, some students still had difficulty distinguishing the two in a consistent manner.
Books such as "If You Were a Minus Sign" and "If You Were a Plus Sign" will help students understand the difference because there is a story they can think back to and build their schema. Stuart Murphy's, "Monster Musical Chairs" can help students see subtraction in the real world and that this fun game is actually related to math.
One of the assessment kindergarten students are required to do is comparing. It can be very challenging to compare sizes such as lengths, widths and weight with limited vocabulary. Mark Weakland's, "How Tall" and "How Heavy" will help students understand what it means to compare and examples of vocabulary used when comparing. Another math concept that have been quite a challenge for young learners to remember are shapes. Many students knew their shapes when it is first taught but somehow, some do not and some forget. However if they can see shapes in the environment on a daily basis, it will help them remember. Dayle Dodd's, "The Shapes of Things" and Stuart Murphy's, "Shapes of Things" will direct students in seeing shapes in the environment.
These books will work wonders in combination with modeling, a bit of lecturing, hands-on activities using manipulatives and even paper and pencil work. Literature is a great way to introduce math concepts, it can be used for math talks, and students can always refer back to it. Thank you!
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