Mathematical Practice:
Being exposed to mathematics and mathematical concepts is extremely important for all children. Children are exposed to math everyday in a variety of ways. The most obvious of course is shapes! Shapes are everywhere in the environment – at home, at school, outside, and even at the grocery store. We’re currently working on shapes in our classroom. The student’s love learning all the names of the shapes, and finding shapes throughout the classroom. We are learning to identify and describe shapes such as squares, circles, triangles and rectangles. We are working towards being able to analyze, compare, create and compose shapes. We will be working towards the goal of conceptual understanding (Kilpatrick et al., 2001) of mathematical concepts. This means that we want our students to comprehend mathematical concepts and being able to connect them to all aspects of their lives. In order to have a conceptual understanding of shapes our students will be able to identify shapes, find them in their surroundings, and understand the relationship between the different shapes. My goal as your child’s teacher is to instill confidence, and a love for math. By using a hands on approach, lots of games and interactive activities, I hope to engage your children in fun and meaningful math lessons! |
Mathematical Content:
Due to the nature of the population of our classroom, we have a wide range of learners. For this unit we will be focusing on two objectives so that all our learners can participate in the lessons. Due to the needs of my students, I will be modifying the curriculum as suggested by the state so that all students can fully participate. We will be working on entry-level skills for pre-kindergarten, as our students are at the preschool age. Although modified so that all students can fully participate, the lessons and skills will satisfy curriculum requirements as stated in the March 2011 Edition of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. |
The first level of skills we will be working on comes from MA Framework Cluster PK.G.A.1 and PK.G.A.2 that states students should “identify and describe shapes (squares, circles, triangles, rectangles)” and “identify various two-dimensional shapes using appropriate language”. Some skills that relate to these clusters are:
Since our goal is to help our student’s reach conceptual understanding we will be looking for their ability to recognize the basic shapes (circle, square, triangle) and match them from manipulatives. For example, I will know your child has reached conceptual understanding when they are able to make a match out of two circles and one square. If this is too difficult for one of my students, I will try to help them recognize one shape at a time. For example I will ask them “Show Ms. Briggs the square” and wait for their response, which should be tapping, reaching, grasping or making eye contact with the square.
Depending on the student, demonstrating relative positions of objects may be too difficult, but exposure to this language is incredibly important. When reading books about shapes or discussing shapes around the room I will make sure to emphasize using prepositions. I will use language like “the square is on top of the table” or “the circle is inside the bucket”. Exposure to this language will help my students gain conceptual understanding of this skill. Once I give them an exposure period I will begin to incorporate the language into their worksheets and class activities. An example of this would be an art project where they need to follow directions such as “put the square on the paper. Now put the circle next to the square”. Some students will be able to do this independently while others may need help. The important factor is that they are always being exposed to new language, concepts and skills.
The second level of skills comes from MA Framework Cluster PK.G.B.3 that states students should “analyze, compare, create, and compose shapes.” Some relative skills to this cluster are:
This level of skill can be demonstrated with arts and crafts projects. Our students love using manipulatives such as popsicle sticks, blocks, and foam cut outs. To help our learners compose two-dimensional shapes I will create templates of squares and rectangles for them to glue popsicle sticks onto. For circles, we will use pipe cleaners and with the assistance of myself or one of my teaching assistants, they will form different size circles and tape them into place.
Drawing shapes may be difficult for some of our learners but with adapted writing utensils, and sometimes hand-over-hand, all of our students will practice drawing the basic shapes (circle, square, triangle and rectangle).
*All information in regards to MA Framework was found here.*
All images were found on Google Image Search Engine
- Match simple identical two-dimensional shapes (e.g. squares, circles)
- Match similar shapes of different sizes (e.g. squares, circle)
- Demonstrate relative positions of objects in space (e.g. beside, inside, next to, close to, above, below, apart)
Since our goal is to help our student’s reach conceptual understanding we will be looking for their ability to recognize the basic shapes (circle, square, triangle) and match them from manipulatives. For example, I will know your child has reached conceptual understanding when they are able to make a match out of two circles and one square. If this is too difficult for one of my students, I will try to help them recognize one shape at a time. For example I will ask them “Show Ms. Briggs the square” and wait for their response, which should be tapping, reaching, grasping or making eye contact with the square.
Depending on the student, demonstrating relative positions of objects may be too difficult, but exposure to this language is incredibly important. When reading books about shapes or discussing shapes around the room I will make sure to emphasize using prepositions. I will use language like “the square is on top of the table” or “the circle is inside the bucket”. Exposure to this language will help my students gain conceptual understanding of this skill. Once I give them an exposure period I will begin to incorporate the language into their worksheets and class activities. An example of this would be an art project where they need to follow directions such as “put the square on the paper. Now put the circle next to the square”. Some students will be able to do this independently while others may need help. The important factor is that they are always being exposed to new language, concepts and skills.
The second level of skills comes from MA Framework Cluster PK.G.B.3 that states students should “analyze, compare, create, and compose shapes.” Some relative skills to this cluster are:
- Compose simple two-dimensional shapes from manipulatives using a template (e.g. a square from popsicle sticks)
- Draw or compose simple two-dimensional shapes from manipulatives (e.g. popsicle sticks, blocks, pipe cleaners, pattern blocks)
This level of skill can be demonstrated with arts and crafts projects. Our students love using manipulatives such as popsicle sticks, blocks, and foam cut outs. To help our learners compose two-dimensional shapes I will create templates of squares and rectangles for them to glue popsicle sticks onto. For circles, we will use pipe cleaners and with the assistance of myself or one of my teaching assistants, they will form different size circles and tape them into place.
Drawing shapes may be difficult for some of our learners but with adapted writing utensils, and sometimes hand-over-hand, all of our students will practice drawing the basic shapes (circle, square, triangle and rectangle).
*All information in regards to MA Framework was found here.*
All images were found on Google Image Search Engine