Addition Fun in Kindergarten

Kindergarten has begun to explore the wonderful world of addition. Before we began to take a closer look at addition, we re-visited numeral formation with several multi-sensory activities- play dough and our mini chalkboards. 

Forming small numerals...

and large numerals!

   

We discovered that we spend so much time writing letters that we needed a little refresher with numeral writing before our addition work could begin. The children were excited to begin using numbers in a different way!




Our addition exploration began with  a read aloud called 12 Ways to Get to 11 by Eve Merriam. On each page, the children observed the many combinations of numerals and corresponding objects that could make the sum or total of 11.

The young mathematicians were eager to begin their own number story telling and used bear manipulatives to tell a story up to five with a partner, complete with numbers and the plus and equal signs. We were amazed at the understanding that the children shared of what the equal sign meant:

• "the total"
• "the same as the other side number"
• "those two small numbers are the parts to put together to get the bigger number at the end"   

 

•               

Next the children used unifix cubes to aid them in discovering all of the ways to make five. This time the challenge was to write the number sentence complete with plus and equal signs!

                                         

Over the next few weeks, we will continue to look at addition in many ways by creating more number stories, using dominoes to create number problems, and playing new math games to strengthen developing number sense and addition skills.