MWS: Beginning number concepts

math game

math game

Earlier I shared some of the games that I had made to go along with beginning number concepts. This is probably where I get the most excited about going to Common Core standards. Under our state frameworks we covered SO many learning objectives that I never felt that we spent adequate time developing number concepts. Under Common Core (CC), the majority of our time in kindergarten deals with number concepts. Think about it this way... if a kid gets that 5 apples is five apples but it is also two groups of apples (addition problem here) and one of those groups will always be bigger and the other will be smaller (comparing numbers). I am so excited!!

I don't like the math workbook pages that come with out textbooks. I just don't like workbooks. I LOVE theme or concept books. What's the difference? A work book is mass produced aiming for the middle of the road learner. A theme or concept book is teacher created for a group of students, it's differentiation at it's best! Since I make them, I can put what ever I need into the book. Something that I find important here is that ALL the covers look the same- same art, same color etc. Why? well it goes back to my childhood. I was diagnosed with ADD in 1978. At that time no one really got what ADD was, and they didn't understand how good intentioned ideas really cut to the bone. Not to get off on a tangent, but in 2nd grade I was assigned to a first grade reader because I struggled to read. It was HUMILIATING!! The same thing happened to a couple of kids who were reading above grade level... different colored reader! Long story short... it didn't matter if you were above or below, you were different and that caused teasing. So now I make all my theme or concept books look the same on the outside.

Here is a learning about numbers book. The illustration shows that the kiddos trace the number and the word, then they draw a set, and they fill in the ten frame. I usually use stickers or bingo markers for the 10 frame. We also rainbow trace the words and numbers. See how easy it is to differentiate this concept book?

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