Mathematicians use strategies!

Yeah, but we don’t even know what strategies are?

Mia you are so cute but really we have been learning them since day 1 of 1^st grade.  Let me explain.

Cameron has 9 Legos and some fell on the floor.  How many does he have to look for...there are 5 on the table.

Kids were given a whiteboard and a marker.  We reviewed what we knew and what we needed to find out.  Then I let them use any “strategy” they felt could best solve for the number of Legos.  Some drew pictures, some used subtraction, and some even used addition to find the missing Legos. 

So Mia here drew 9 and then drew circles with lines through them like she “sees on signs” to subtract 4.  She then walks through how she minuses 4 to get to the 5.  She even uses a related addition fact to help solve.

Shaner uses his knowledge of the 10 frame to help him find the missing addend. He knows that 5 and 5 would make a ten frame. He also knows that 5+4 would equal 9.  5 is the number of Legos on the table and there’s 4 on the floor.

I am so proud of these kids and their ability to reason.  They are using connections to things they know from their world, like how Mia sees it on signs and Shaner knows 10 frames.  We will continue to keep working on their reasoning and explaining to justify their answers. Make sure to check back and see how we grow as mathematicians!