PreK Ms. Fritzie
Pre-Kinder students are to make sense out of their world, to see the mathematics all around them, and to be able to begin to talk about the math in informal terms. It is the Pre-kinder teacher’s job to see that there are many experiences for students to grow in these critical areas.
PreK Sample Question
Students should be in a large circle around the teacher so that all students look into the circle and can see the action as the teacher talks through the story.
Materials:
- sets of candies (or color tiles) 5 of 1 color; 3 of another color
- 1 set for the teacher
- 1 set for every student
- large newsprint or drawing paper/markers or crayons
- 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper for the students
The Problem:
The teacher randomly places 5 candies of one color (or 5 color tiles)
of one color on the floor in front of him/her and says...
"These are Mr. Tubb’s candies."
The teacher randomly places
3 candies of another color on the floor in front of him/her and can
mix them in with the first 5, and says…
"These are Ms. Fritzie’s candies."
Ms Fritzie told Mr. Tubbs, “I have more candies than you do.”
Ask the students if they believe that Ms. Fritzie is reasonable in what she says. Have each student who ventures an answer explain his/her thinking. Accept all answers without comment.
Tell the students that you are going to prove whether Ms Fritzie is reasonable or unreasonable in her answer. First, line up Mr. Tubb’s candies. Have the students help you count them. Then line up Ms Fritzie’s candies. Have the students count them. Ask who has more? How do you know? Tell them you can show who has more by making pairs out of the candy; then line up the candy in one-to-one fashion.
Create a class poster that shows Ms. Fritzie and the candies that each has. Then ask students to suggest a way that you can show who has more. Select a strategy and show it on the poster.
Now distribute the candy
or color tile sets, 1 piece of 8.5 x 11 paper and colors or markers
to each student. Tell the story again
and let
the students show you the action in the story. Have various volunteers
tell you the story and explain whether Ms. Fritzie is reasonable
or unreasonable.
Finally, have each student record on paper what they did with the manipulatives, then explain their posters.
Sample PreK Poster
This is a Pre-kinder’s solution to Pre-kinder Ms. Fritzie #1. The student could explain that Ms. Fritzie was unreasonable because she did not have as many candies as Mr. Tubbs.
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