The Meaning of Four
Good evening again. I'm sorry this post is late, but I'm in Destin Florida. The internet connection is terrible in this lovely resort. Let me not belabor the point of this blog entitled The Meaning of Four.
This week in kindergarten we concentrated on the number four. Not so much of the symbol numeral 4. But what four means and how kindergarten student understand what four truly means.
So, the kindergarten teacher and I did a NT involve four dots. The four dots were randomly placed on the upper tier of the tens frame. The students remember the procedures very well. Some continued to raise their hand when posed a question, but for the most part they have it. The challenge was their perception of what four means when looking at four dots. It was quite interesting to see that some students perceive four as three dots and one more. However, they could not make the connection that there are four dots. Some of students also quantify four dots as 2 dots and 2 more dots. However, we-the kindergarten teacher and I- allowed students to come to the tens frame and count the dots. Not only students could not quantify what four means, they couldn't subitize. Subitize means readily knowing the number of objects without counting them. They can subitize two dots and three dots, but have trouble with four. Therefore, the kindergarten teacher and I will continue with four dots with the tens frames and maybe dot images. I may even video this NT this week so we can better understand our student thinking. Well, until next week!
Also leave a comment for suggestions.
This week in kindergarten we concentrated on the number four. Not so much of the symbol numeral 4. But what four means and how kindergarten student understand what four truly means.
So, the kindergarten teacher and I did a NT involve four dots. The four dots were randomly placed on the upper tier of the tens frame. The students remember the procedures very well. Some continued to raise their hand when posed a question, but for the most part they have it. The challenge was their perception of what four means when looking at four dots. It was quite interesting to see that some students perceive four as three dots and one more. However, they could not make the connection that there are four dots. Some of students also quantify four dots as 2 dots and 2 more dots. However, we-the kindergarten teacher and I- allowed students to come to the tens frame and count the dots. Not only students could not quantify what four means, they couldn't subitize. Subitize means readily knowing the number of objects without counting them. They can subitize two dots and three dots, but have trouble with four. Therefore, the kindergarten teacher and I will continue with four dots with the tens frames and maybe dot images. I may even video this NT this week so we can better understand our student thinking. Well, until next week!
Also leave a comment for suggestions.
Okay. I would love to hear their thinking. Until next time Daktari!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment. I will record next week!
ReplyDelete