WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.020 Let's talk about five of my most popular kindergarten 00:00:03.020 --> 00:00:05.759 building thinking classroom style math tasks. 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:16.019 Hello and welcome to Making Number Sense Make 00:00:16.019 --> 00:00:19.239 Sense, a podcast for elementary teachers, specifically 00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:21.859 early elementary teachers, looking to really 00:00:21.859 --> 00:00:24.559 make an impact in the number sense of their students. 00:00:24.859 --> 00:00:27.059 Sometimes the hardest part about problem solving 00:00:27.059 --> 00:00:29.620 is finding tasks that your kids will actually 00:00:29.620 --> 00:00:32.579 enjoy that align with the standards, especially 00:00:32.579 --> 00:00:35.520 in these younger grades like kindergarten. So 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:37.439 today I'm going to share with you five task ideas 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:40.619 that you can use in your own classroom. I like 00:00:40.619 --> 00:00:43.880 to include task launch slides. to kind of bring 00:00:43.880 --> 00:00:46.439 these tasks to life, but they're usually very 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:49.020 few slides. It's really just to launch the task. 00:00:49.100 --> 00:00:51.799 No more than five minutes, probably three minutes 00:00:51.799 --> 00:00:56.020 max if it's not a more complex story. Like to 00:00:56.020 --> 00:00:59.060 have different levels of thin slicing. Something 00:00:59.060 --> 00:01:00.740 that you might notice when you're doing just 00:01:00.740 --> 00:01:03.799 a normal give students a story problem is some 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:06.129 students finish quickly. Some students are not. 00:01:06.230 --> 00:01:09.310 So having thin slices of tasks, getting a little 00:01:09.310 --> 00:01:11.109 more challenging and a little more challenging, 00:01:11.170 --> 00:01:13.950 but building on things that they have just done 00:01:13.950 --> 00:01:17.450 can help them get to more advanced and deeper 00:01:17.450 --> 00:01:19.590 understandings of the tasks that you're doing 00:01:19.590 --> 00:01:22.189 and giving the opportunity to either have some 00:01:22.189 --> 00:01:24.189 kind of check your understanding problem that's 00:01:24.189 --> 00:01:26.750 similar to what they just did, but just different 00:01:26.750 --> 00:01:29.510 enough so they can start to generalize what they've 00:01:29.510 --> 00:01:31.730 been working on. And in kindergarten specifically, 00:01:32.069 --> 00:01:34.230 I also like to include sometimes some kind of 00:01:34.540 --> 00:01:37.200 activity or extension that they can use in the 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:39.500 center so it's still building on what they've 00:01:39.500 --> 00:01:41.620 been learning. The first task I'm going to talk 00:01:41.620 --> 00:01:44.939 about is a composing shapes challenge. So in 00:01:44.939 --> 00:01:47.200 this one I would give them something really simple 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:50.459 to start off with to say okay your first challenge 00:01:50.459 --> 00:01:54.150 is to build a trapezoid using Three triangles. 00:01:54.409 --> 00:01:56.590 So in that one, I'm giving them the shape I want 00:01:56.590 --> 00:01:58.290 and also what shapes they're going to use. So 00:01:58.290 --> 00:02:00.909 that's kind of our entry level. In the next one, 00:02:01.010 --> 00:02:03.290 I might say I want you to make a rectangle, but 00:02:03.290 --> 00:02:06.849 not say which shapes I want them to use. So it 00:02:06.849 --> 00:02:08.830 starts to get a little more challenging. So they 00:02:08.830 --> 00:02:11.389 have a goal in mind, but still need to figure 00:02:11.389 --> 00:02:13.349 out how they're going to do it. And then from 00:02:13.349 --> 00:02:15.990 there, give them something that is not just a 00:02:15.990 --> 00:02:18.330 normal shape. So I might say build a house or 00:02:18.330 --> 00:02:20.409 build a rocket, things like that. Shapes and 00:02:20.409 --> 00:02:22.430 forms that... I feel like they would be able 00:02:22.430 --> 00:02:25.250 to do, but they also want to do. So starting 00:02:25.250 --> 00:02:27.590 off simple to get their feet wet and then they 00:02:27.590 --> 00:02:29.930 say, like, I want to build a rocket. You can 00:02:29.930 --> 00:02:32.330 go really crazy with it to maybe build me a castle 00:02:32.330 --> 00:02:33.990 or build me an apartment building or something 00:02:33.990 --> 00:02:36.629 like that so they can get creative. But also 00:02:36.629 --> 00:02:40.849 thinking about the shapes that compose bigger 00:02:40.849 --> 00:02:42.990 shapes, which meets the standard for kindergarten. 00:02:43.330 --> 00:02:45.849 Another test that I found really popular is called 00:02:45.849 --> 00:02:49.469 toy trouble. So in toy trouble, the students 00:02:49.469 --> 00:02:52.490 have. been playing with their friends and now 00:02:52.490 --> 00:02:56.009 it's time to sort the toys and figure out how 00:02:56.009 --> 00:02:58.909 many there are. This is a sorting and graphing 00:02:58.909 --> 00:03:01.330 task, so data and graphing task. So for this 00:03:01.330 --> 00:03:05.090 kind of activity, it's kind of challenging to 00:03:05.090 --> 00:03:08.289 kind of give them nothing to go by. So my thin 00:03:08.289 --> 00:03:10.680 slice would be different. toys that they have 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:13.379 to count and then graph to figure out which one 00:03:13.379 --> 00:03:16.520 has more and which one has less. And in terms 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:18.699 of getting more challenging, what's changing 00:03:18.699 --> 00:03:21.900 is the number of things they have to count and 00:03:21.900 --> 00:03:24.439 how many categories they have to sort. So starting 00:03:24.439 --> 00:03:27.000 off with two, moving to three, and if a student 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:29.939 really wants to challenge themselves in the check 00:03:29.939 --> 00:03:32.340 your understanding piece, if they want a mild, 00:03:32.379 --> 00:03:35.199 medium, or spicy, I might give them three or 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:38.490 four categories. that they can try to do if they 00:03:38.490 --> 00:03:41.550 want to, which is above the standard. But I found 00:03:41.550 --> 00:03:44.550 that once they're kind of on a roll and they 00:03:44.550 --> 00:03:46.930 understand what to do, they can apply what they 00:03:46.930 --> 00:03:50.810 did in the previous tasks to the check your understanding 00:03:50.810 --> 00:03:54.729 piece. The next task is a comparing lengths task, 00:03:54.909 --> 00:03:56.889 and that might get your students moving a little 00:03:56.889 --> 00:04:00.039 bit. So basically they have their recording sheet 00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:02.879 and their pencil, and they need to measure the 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:05.139 things on the recording sheet and figure out 00:04:05.139 --> 00:04:08.360 if those things are longer or shorter than their 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:11.419 pencil. And these are simple materials that you 00:04:11.419 --> 00:04:13.460 would probably have in your classroom, like a 00:04:13.460 --> 00:04:16.459 crayon or a marker or a cube or a desk, things 00:04:16.459 --> 00:04:18.300 like that, so they can really start to decide 00:04:18.300 --> 00:04:20.920 if something is longer or shorter than the thing 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:24.310 that they're measuring against. You could even 00:04:24.310 --> 00:04:27.410 have them start to decide what things they want 00:04:27.410 --> 00:04:29.889 to measure if they go through the list and they 00:04:29.889 --> 00:04:32.949 have the time. Now in terms of a check your understanding, 00:04:33.110 --> 00:04:36.170 consolidation, or reflection piece, this is where 00:04:36.170 --> 00:04:38.310 I would include a game or something that can 00:04:38.310 --> 00:04:41.029 be used as a center. The game for this activity 00:04:41.029 --> 00:04:44.769 has a spinner and something on the side of a 00:04:44.769 --> 00:04:47.310 paper that's printed off that they can use to 00:04:47.310 --> 00:04:50.750 measure. So the spinner has numbers 1 to 5 or 00:04:50.750 --> 00:04:53.870 1 to 10. So they would spin. and let's say they 00:04:53.870 --> 00:04:56.310 chose six, they would build a tower with six 00:04:56.310 --> 00:04:57.910 cubes. And then they'd have to measure their 00:04:57.910 --> 00:05:01.110 tower of cubes against the object that they're 00:05:01.110 --> 00:05:03.490 measuring on their paper to see if it is longer 00:05:03.490 --> 00:05:06.449 or shorter than the object. So it might be a 00:05:06.449 --> 00:05:08.470 marker, it might be a pencil, but it's something 00:05:08.470 --> 00:05:11.269 that they can see and they can align to the bottom 00:05:11.269 --> 00:05:13.810 because there's a line underneath the thing that 00:05:13.810 --> 00:05:15.430 they're measuring to be like, this is where you 00:05:15.430 --> 00:05:17.870 start measuring to reinforce that when you're 00:05:17.870 --> 00:05:20.569 measuring things, they have to be lined up. at 00:05:20.569 --> 00:05:22.949 one of the edges or one of the sides to get an 00:05:22.949 --> 00:05:26.170 accurate measure. The next two tasks are fun 00:05:26.170 --> 00:05:28.529 because they add a little bit of spice, a little 00:05:28.529 --> 00:05:30.709 bit of mystery to the tasks that you're doing. 00:05:30.850 --> 00:05:33.589 So the first one is for decomposing numbers and 00:05:33.589 --> 00:05:36.370 it's called how many crayons. And in this one, 00:05:36.389 --> 00:05:39.329 I would suggest you actually hide crayons in 00:05:39.329 --> 00:05:41.949 your desk or in your teacher area so they can't 00:05:41.949 --> 00:05:44.670 see it. And you say to them that you've hidden 00:05:44.670 --> 00:05:48.850 five crayons in your teacher area. Some of them 00:05:48.850 --> 00:05:53.060 are red. And some of them are yellow. Which crayons 00:05:53.060 --> 00:05:55.540 could I have? So then they and their partner 00:05:55.540 --> 00:05:57.439 would have to figure out what are the possible 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:00.040 combinations of five that they might have. So 00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:01.839 they and their partner would have to figure out 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:04.339 what are the possible combinations of five that 00:06:04.339 --> 00:06:07.259 could be hidden in your desk. And at the end, 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:09.639 you can actually show them the crayons that you 00:06:09.639 --> 00:06:11.899 had so they can see if they were correct or incorrect. 00:06:12.459 --> 00:06:15.379 Usually, they would have gotten... One of the 00:06:15.379 --> 00:06:17.579 combinations is probably the one that you had, 00:06:17.660 --> 00:06:19.759 so they get excited that they guessed it right, 00:06:19.899 --> 00:06:22.079 but it gives a little bit of something extra 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:25.319 to get them excited to do this task. Decomposing 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:28.379 numbers is always such a great topic for this 00:06:28.379 --> 00:06:31.019 kind of task because you can have them figure 00:06:31.019 --> 00:06:33.319 out all of the combinations, and if they still 00:06:33.319 --> 00:06:35.860 have time, you can give the suggestion that you 00:06:35.860 --> 00:06:37.839 might have more crayons in your desk or whatever 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:40.579 the two objects are that they're using to make 00:06:40.579 --> 00:06:43.399 the target number. The last task I'm going to 00:06:43.399 --> 00:06:45.740 share with you today is the mystery bag task. 00:06:46.019 --> 00:06:49.160 And the mystery bag task is working on T numbers. 00:06:49.300 --> 00:06:52.000 So understanding that a T number is 10 and some 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:54.759 ones. In this one, you have a bag that is not 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:58.259 see -through that has a tens rod or a... tower 00:06:58.259 --> 00:07:01.399 of 10 cubes and some loose ones so then similar 00:07:01.399 --> 00:07:03.240 to the last ones your students have to figure 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:07.360 out how many cubes could be in the bag so in 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:09.620 this task they would have to figure out if they 00:07:09.620 --> 00:07:12.339 have 10 and 1 how many would that be 10 and 2 00:07:12.339 --> 00:07:15.040 and keep going until they're able to find all 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:17.540 the combinations that could be in the bag and 00:07:17.540 --> 00:07:19.459 again at the end you could pull it out and show 00:07:19.459 --> 00:07:21.459 them how many cubes were actually in the bag 00:07:21.459 --> 00:07:26.189 and this is another situation where using a game 00:07:26.189 --> 00:07:28.529 could be a great way to consolidate this task 00:07:28.529 --> 00:07:32.550 to reinforce that 10 and some ones make a t number 00:07:32.550 --> 00:07:35.269 and practice writing the t numbers as well because 00:07:35.269 --> 00:07:38.170 number reversal can be something that's really 00:07:38.170 --> 00:07:40.670 common especially in kindergarten so understanding 00:07:40.670 --> 00:07:43.709 that that 10 is the one and that's why it goes 00:07:44.089 --> 00:07:47.189 first is helpful. So similar to the previous 00:07:47.189 --> 00:07:49.189 task, they have a spinner and they spin however 00:07:49.189 --> 00:07:52.350 many ones there would be. So if they spun a seven, 00:07:52.490 --> 00:07:55.470 then their number would be one tens rod and seven 00:07:55.470 --> 00:07:57.310 would make 17. So they're practicing writing 00:07:57.310 --> 00:08:00.509 those numbers as well as starting to understand 00:08:00.509 --> 00:08:04.370 conceptually how many each of these teen numbers 00:08:04.370 --> 00:08:07.769 represents. I will have a link to all of these 00:08:07.769 --> 00:08:10.290 tasks together down below. And if you're wanting 00:08:10.290 --> 00:08:13.769 to just try out a thinking classroom task, there's 00:08:13.769 --> 00:08:15.709 also a link at the bottom called the escaping 00:08:15.709 --> 00:08:18.490 ants task. And that's one that you can try for 00:08:18.490 --> 00:08:18.730 free.