Math Boxes

I was excited to see the introduction of math boxes in kindergarten this week. As a substitute last year I was always impressed with how well the students did with their math boxes. They seemed to know exactly what to do with each item, they took care of the items, they cooperated with their partners, and most importantly they were excited to do math! When my mentor teacher told me she was going to introduce math boxes this week I was excited to see that process.

When the time came she started by making a big deal about a special new thing she was going to show them.  She gathered them in a circle on the carpet and dramatically pulled a box out from behind her back.  They waited with baited breath.  She told them is was a box full of fun activities they could do with partners or on their own.  She said they would be available to the students at certain times during the day and maybe they could earn them as special treats.  They were thrilled.

Once they were all eager to know more, she opened the box and started taking out each individual item, stopping on each one to tell the students what it was called and what they could do with it.

 The first thing she pulled out was a counting strip. She showed them how they could use it to count forwards and backwards. She also showed them a card they could slide the strip into an use it to look at just one number at a time. Then she pulled out a small deck of cards they could use to identify numbers and count symbols.  One student suggested they play Go Fish with the cards and the teacher agreed that would be a good use of them.  Next was a deck of Garbage Cards, a game the students already know how to play.  She pointed out that the backs of the cards were colored different colors in each box, so it would be easier to keep track of which cards belonged in which box.   Next came the Five Strips, which can be put in order from one to one hundred, and can also be used to count by fives or tens.   The box also has a string of one hundred beads that she gave very little introduction.  Finally she showed a bundle of craft sticks with dots of them and two dice, both of which that can be used for adding, subtracting and comparing. 

After she introduced each item she partnered up the students and set them lose with a math box to explore.  While they worked she and I went from partner to partner to guide them with the tools, observe, and offer new suggestions for things to do.  This is a great opportunity for individual assessment!  I was able quickly notice several children who can count to 100 easily and others who made it pretty far but got stuck in certain areas.  I also had many opportunities to ask "how do you know?"  One girl told me there were 100 beads and when I asked how she knew she told me she had counted the red beads, noticed the groups of white were the same size and therefore must have the same number, then counted by fives to get 100.  Pretty good reasoning!

After 15 minutes of free exploration the teacher brought the class back together in the circle.  She had them sit with their partners and then we went around the room and had each group share something they had done with their boxes.  Many had done something she suggested, but several had done their own thing.  Everyone was eager to share what they had done.  I'd like to say they were also eager to hear what their classmates had done, but mostly they just wanted to talk. :)

A few days later I pulled out the math boxes again when we had an unexpected ten minutes at the end of the day.  I partnered up the students, but had one pair who were very unhappy with the partnership.  I considered rearranging, but then decided that part of kindergarten is learning to work well with others, so I sat with them for a few minutes while they negotiated and figured out how to work together.  They finally settled on a game they both wanted to play and carried on happily together.  Math boxes are as much about the math as about the teamwork and partnership.