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Lesson

Kindergarten Math – Number Operations and Counting

Clip 4/6: Lesson Number Operations Part D

Overview

Tracy Sola asks her students to partition their squirrels’ acorns by saying, “Share one nut with his friend” and then asking, “Now that he has shared, how many does he have left?” Some students respond that they now have six nuts (one fewer than the total number of tiles they were originally allotted); another student has four nuts, and another has three placed with one squirrel and four with the other.

Teacher Commentary

When I asked them,“How many are there?” what I noticed is they first put out their top five and then they shared one. And then I said, “How many are left?” A lot of kids shouted four and a lot of kids shouted one. It’s not clear to me if they knew what I was asking when I said, “How many are left behind?” I think that the people who shouted out one, I think understood the problem. I'm not sure the others understood what I was asking them.

Materials & Artifacts