kindergarten timed tests - building fluency within 5

Starting this quarter I want to reward my kinders with knowing they are increasing their skills by giving them a repetitive activity that'll show growth. Dare I say, they will be getting a "timed test?" Most of my kinders will love the challenge and I've worked at putting it together so that it is meaningful to parents and will show my kinders their own growth. This will hopefully help them enhance the skills:

• K.OA.5.a. Add fluently, orally or in writing, within 5.
• K.OA.5.b. Subtract fluently, orally or in writing, within 5.

I'll start at 5 mins. and then differentiate the time for my groups once they've felt success on the first few. I'll be giving two each week during weeks 2, 3, 5 and 6 and that equals eight tests.

Timed Tests for Kindergarten

  

Timed Tests for Kindergarten

The first one has a parent explanation sheet, and all of them have a sheet that I am copying on the back for parent help. The last few tests increase in number of equations to help build their stamina. Let's see how this goes, shall we?

Timed Tests for Kindergarten

They are also being photocopied onto overheads and placed as independent work in our practice zone because doing a "work sheet" just feels fun when you're allowed to use a vis-a-vis marker! I hope they can be of use to you too!

More Math Fluency

free downloadable gift to facebook fans
creating ten frame manipulatives
picture directions for math games
subtraction - am I the last one?
teddy bear addition
making math vocabulary stick

Its too early to start a count down, but its hard to believe we have nine weeks left!

If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.
- Leslie

*Free downloadable Thank You Gift included when you subscribe via email or RSS.

why does 10+6=16?

This year I have been using small group math instruction to guide my kinders. I've shared how its laid out and even a sample lesson called:

I am very thankful for the insight that these opportunities provided since the way I was doing math in all my years past... I would've never known about the way my kinders think.

I proposed a question to my kinders as part of a warm up activity this week. My question was, "Why does 10+6=16?" I wrote it on a white board, gave them all a very long time to think and I repeated it a few times with emphasis on different parts of the equation. My kinders were to just think about why. I knew that my two higher groups would catch on more quickly, but I wasn't sure about my lower two. It was a great indication of where they were in their concept of numbers in base ten.

After one+ min. of almost painful wait time, I asked them to draw/write their reason why to show me. I've never modeled this before! We've always talked about teens being ___ groups of ten and ___ ones, but never in an equation form... so I was very interested to see how they were forming their thoughts {and were they anywhere close to what we were talking about}. Starting next week we will begin to transition to composing and decomposing teen numbers into equations like this one, so this was good insight as where to start.

I didn't know what to expect as I passed out their white boards.
I wasn't sure I was going to be able to understand the drawings or their verbal explanations. Things don't always come out clearly when you're five.

Most of them (who figured out a connection to groups of tens and ones when I emphasized the word TEN as I was stating the equation) drew a ten frame and six little dots (ones). One showed that you cross out the 0 and drew an arrow for the six to take its place in his equation. I had to admit, that I am grateful to have seen an entirely new way shown to me by one of my kinders. One showed me taking each numeral in 16 and drawing arrows to the matching number in the equation.

All it took was a few arrows... Now, I'm equipped with another way to work with my kinders as we begin our last quarter of kindergarten together and solidify the skills of:

• K.NBT.1.e. Record the composition of numbers 11-19 through an equation of a group of ten ones and additional ones.
• K.NBT.1.f. Record the decomposition of numbers 11-19 through an equation of a group of ten ones and additional ones.

Erase the 16 and arrows and replace with a plus sign. Discuss, where should the equals sign go. Most kinders end up seeing the circular reasoning behind it after just a few examples and practicing a couple of equations.

With that explanation now shared, I'm compiling some items we've used to practice into a set available for purchase, but you can also download this little piece that is perfect for printing onto overheads. When cut in half (and edges trimmed) they fit perfectly on a small sized magnetic drawing board making for some great independent practice.

{click to get yours}

collecting student information before the school year

DAY ONE... I don't even want to think about it. And you can't make me. {And scene.} Let's try this again with a little less drama...

Every year at this time, my mind is forced to think of kindergarten... day one. Right, so we don't yet know what a line is, where the kleenex is, and no you can't use the bathroom yet, because I haven't taught you how to use it in our room... oh my. Well, this is the time of year when we are hosting our round up of all the kindergarten students in our area and my mind is gently reminded of how far we have come in 120+ days of school.

And I am reminded that I need to take time to enjoy that we successfully line up, use kleenex and use the restroom with little to no distraction to class instruction time. In addition, we've learned to read, write and do lots of math. {Yes!} Now, let's put a little finesse into what we do before heading off to first grade, shall we?


In preparation for day one, our building allows us to tweak the documents that we can include in the registration packet. They've graciously allowed us to add our cute form to the 15 others that parents fill out upon registration. And this is the one that matters. The others tell me nothing about the child, the most important piece of all. Here is the updated form that we will be using to gather some insight into the kinders that will be coming our way. With some inspiration from other forms that we've seen like Farley's, we have pulled together our favorite questions to become equipped to start a new year.

We have really consolidated our info to parents that comes from our building. Parents get two brochures: one from the office with the basic lunch, times, dismissal info., and one from us teachers with our essentials. We figure that if we can beautify the information and make it as concise as possible, then perhaps, just maybe, it'll be read with the vigor we'd love to see from our new families.

{Click to Access}

The download above is titled:

But, if I could have it my way, I'd like to ask two more questions that would help me with classroom management and connecting with my kinders immediately. It would be a stretch, but have you ever read Personality Plus or the Five Love Languages? These two books have made such a huge impact on how I interact with people, including the 24 little people in my room and I'd like to know truly: how are they wired and how do they best receive love? So, I'd like to title the download this instead:

If you've never read those books, they will be the best professional development books you could ever dive into considering that all we do is work with people. Okay, so back to thinking of day one... here's a tip I have learned. So many brand new kinders don't understand the concept of getting in a line. But, they all understand the concept of a drive-thru. Anytime I want to explain how we are going to get somewhere (even getting materials in class along a shelf for example) I use that as part of the language, and it runs as smooth as butter. We may have to work on the speed to match that of the mighty double arches, but I'll take "smooth" any way I can that first week of school!

What do you really want to know about your kinders on day one?

If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.
- Leslie

*Free downloadable Thank You Gift included when you subscribe via email or RSS.

along for the adventure

I'm entering into brave new territory...

Many of you will say, I've been doing that for years! Well, I've been thinking about it ever since I heard of it. Always wanted to, never saw the perfect fit and always made the excuse that it would take too much time. Well, my personality type likes to keep me thinking about doing something and planning it so smoothly that sometimes, I get lost in the planning phase and take way to long to reach the execution phase.

Anyone else have the same personality type?

Well, personality or not I finally reached a point where I'm going to do it! New world here I come! Why am I making the change (something I choose selectively into my life)?

• So that my kinders will remain engaged
• So that my kinders will participate at a new level
• So that my "doer" kinders and my visual kinders will be able to draw on their strengths
• So that I know I am doing my best to meet the needs of all my kinders and challenge them at the same time... all during...

Last week, I put my big toe in the pool of change just to see what the temperature was. Upon telling my kinders that they would each have a binder, well - that just made the entire thing a big hit! The water was a good temperature to wade into.

Setting the ground rules of what is expected, and what it will look like are being laid this week during discussion. "What will you be writing, while I'm writing?" "How will you sit with your binder?" So far wading is making the jump seem like not such a big deal.

I began actually putting work into this project at home and began making a set of individual calendar pages for my kinders that will match up with our calendar routine and our standards. What I am working on is the details... I want it to be routine based without being the exact same thing everyday. I want to be able to have students manipulate their tabs in their binder with ease so we don't lose precious minutes. Well, let's just see about that waist-high water when we get there.

Here's where I am in creating a binder set to match what I want to accomplish during calendar. If only I had a projector... then I'd be all set! Well, anyways, I'm going to figure out how to model the pages that aren't directly up on the calendar wall. To start, we'll each need 3 crayons (one for each color of our ABC date tag pattern) and a pencil. This monthly calendar will indeed last all month long. Students will add the date, pattern color, and then color the number as part of a countdown off to the side. Once we figure out the pattern, we'll color the type in at the top. (I made one copy without our date tag shapes since I don't know what you use)

We'll pull a number from our hundreds chart (but start with 11-19 to match our standards) and compose/decompose those numbers by first adding quick dots to create the number using ten frames with a marker and then writing about the groups of tens and ones. This may be an almost daily activity. I'd like to quickly move onto breaking numbers 20+ because I do think that it helps to illustrate place value (and solidifies what they are learning about place value of the numbers they must master which is 11-19). Right now we'll use words to decompose, and next quarter (Mid-March) move into writing equations to model the decomposition. At this point, we'll have jumped in feet first!

Oh yes, and we're also working on developing an awareness of which group of tens the number falls into on the hundreds chart, so we'll be sure to color the number on the hundreds chart, followed by coloring the entire row on the chart.

This page will last for 2-6 days. Not sure how long each portion will take, so I may do the left or right side on a given day... or if it takes longer, we'll show the 3 different ways to solve over a couple days. I want to encourage students explaining why as we work, so that will add to the time we spend. I'll pull an equation card for the subtraction side and model solving it using ten frames, a number line and the quickest pictures ever (touch dots)!

I'll select a number to solve how to make 10, so that students are first solving for the missing addend using a ten frame, which they are most familiar with. We'll move into modeling solving the equation using "jumps" on a number line, and finally into drawing the equation using touch dots located on the numerals. If we repeat numbers enough from now until the end of K... we just may build some automaticity into their "what makes 10" thought process.

I've also created a weather calendar to record on for each month and a page to record the weather on a longer-term basis. I've added in months of the year and birthdays because I wasn't sure which page featuring the months of the year would be most beneficial to me and some just love knowing/showing when their birthday is!

Brave new territory, here we come! Its not so scary bringing 24 excited kinders along for the adventure... not that I'll admit anyway.